Forsaken
by Digi-Dolphin
Summary: seq. to Trick and Treat. The last of the Seals are to be recorded, and through them ancient secrets are coming to light. With a new party member, a new spell, and a new foe, can Caleb and the Wonder Chef finish their journey to reach Derris-Kharlan?
1. Chapter 1

Forsaken

Ch 1

Shopping for something new for Ginger Spicewood, former Dark Chef spy, to wear was almost a disaster. There wasn't quite enough leftover allowance for the Wonder Chef known as Wren to be happy with the idea of buying her a new set of clothes, so Caleb sifted through his pockets, sold his extra mana crystal, then handed the gald to the chef. The first shop they went to sold mostly fine dresses for nobility. Wren immediately told the woman that they were not going to buy anything from there, then yelped as Ginger cheered and ran in, dragging him along by the wrist. Caleb, the automatic doll with a soul, stood outside the shop with his partner and friend, a mana beast named Peppermint FireBlossom, teaching her new words and meanings as he hoped the two cooks didn't kill each other.

Ginger loved the ruffles and silks, darting around the racks of flowing dresses. Wren stuffed his hat into his pack, hoping with a furious blush that no one asked what he was doing in such a place. And to make things worse, he was feeling far too warm for comfort. In a flash, the former spy leaped out in front of him, clad in a deep blue gown with black lace and adorned with shimmering gems around the deep neckline.

"Ta-da! Isn't this just to **die** for?!" Ginger cried happily as she twirled around before Wren.

"Yow!" Wren yelped and fell back off the low bench in a startled faint. Ginger blinked and hurried over, peering over the heap of legs and arms to see what had happened.

"Blondie?" she puzzled, leaning over to make sure he was okay. The chef blinked dazedly, then went pale, eyes wide as he stared up at her.

"Yowyowyow...!" he stammered and held out his hands, covering up the top of Ginger's dress, "That shows too much!" The woman blinked and looked down at herself, then snapped her head up with a furious blush.

"You _pervert_!" she yelled and started slapping at his head, "What are you doing staring _there_?! I told you to look at the **whole** dress!"

"Ow! Then take it off!" Wren yelled back, covering his head. She only slapped harder.

"Pervert! Sicko! Now you want me to _strip_?! Jerk!" she scolded.

--

As predicted, nothing was bought at the dress shop, and the next boutique was a little lighter in tastes, simple sundresses and shorts for boys. Ginger was sorting through the outfits, wrinkling her nose at anything that didn't suit her style. Wren sighed and looked towards the door where Caleb stood guard and gave him pointed looks. Pepper only blinked at them and cocked her head.

"Yummy not okay?" she asked.

"For the last time, don't call me Yummy!" Wren yelled in annoyance and turned back to see if the spy had finally picked out something that, hopefully, covered more than eighty percent of her body. She held up a sundress in shades of cyan and jade in consideration, then turned to give him a stern look.

"Does this make me look fat?" she demanded to know. Wren rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"I don't know. Candy makes people fat, not dresses." he retorted and earned a shoe thrown at him, "Ow! Hey!"

"Idiot! Don't make fun of candy! Get back here! I'll teach _you_ to call me fat!" Ginger snapped, chasing him down and tearing through the shop after him as the salesgirl watched in shock from behind the counter. Caleb watched them calmly and shook his head in exasperation.

"She's not gonna give you any if you keep that up." he remarked as Wren ran by in shrieks.

"I never wanted it!" he wailed and ducked another shoe.

--

A third shop offered the simplest of clothes, mainly uniforms for servants and maids. Wren sat in one corner, holding up the Wonder Fork defensively as he looked around furtively to see which direction the former spy would come in from. Ginger had poked at the racks, shaking her head at what she considered dismal selections. She finally approached him in a navy blue maid's uniform, frowning.

"There is **no** way on earth I'm going into the Temple of Darkness dressed like **this**." she growled as Wren shut his eyes and covered his face, hoping he didn't look as red as he felt.

"And there's no way I'm paying for that." he agreed, "Get something else. Better yet, why not stay in the Wonder Cook uniform? You look good in that." Ginger tapped her fingertips against her lip thoughtfully, studying him with a slight bit of interest.

"Really? You think I look good in that uniform?" she asked softly. Caleb looked up from his book, a vaguely hopeful expression on his own face.

"Well, yes. It's not a Dark Chef uniform and it covers more than anything else you've put on so far." Wren remarked with an innocent expression and yelped in shock when Ginger fumed and hurled another pair of shoes at him, "What'd I say **now**?!"

"You jerk! _Ingrate!_ What the hell do **you** know about women's clothes anyway?! Pervert!" she screamed and Caleb sighed despairingly.

"Tell me I'm not the _only_ one who knows what's going on." he pleaded of Pepper. The mana beast glanced skyward thoughtfully, then gave him an expression of confusion.

"Yummy not okay with Candy?" she asked and the doll smacked his forehead, ignoring the rampage that continued in the shop.

--

Trupelos only had lightweight armors, guards, and robes for females, clothes that Ginger picked through and critiqued until she found a dress that seemed appealing. It was sleeveless, with a mid-length skirt that was loose around the legs. Forest green in color and breathable, it had everything Ginger wanted and Wren didn't.

"She can't wear **that**! It's an invitation to disaster!" Wren hissed under his breath in what sounded like a rising panic. The cook had scampered off to try on the dress, giggling excitedly as she clutched it in her hands. "I'm not buying that!" Caleb turned at the sounds of ripping cloth and watched with a horrified Wren as the remains of the Wonder Cook uniform were thrown out of the dressing room.

"Well, you're gonna have to now. She tore up the other uniform." he remarked with a slight grin. Wren shot him a glare.

"You're **not** helping!" he complained and rubbed at his forehead, "And it's way too hot in here." Caleb looked confused as he scanned the area.

"Seems just fine to me. Sun's going down, though. We'll have to leave Meltokio in the morning." he remarked. Wren panicked again.

"Ohhh no! I'm **not** taking her back to the hotel with us! No way!" he cried, "She'll kill us in our sleep!"

"She'll kill _you_ in _your_ sleep." Caleb corrected, "I don't need sleep."

"Fine! Then you can have the fun of watching me **die**!" the chef snapped as Ginger stepped out of the room in the dress. She spun slowly around before them, a shy look on her face as she studied herself in the one piece dress. She had a wide belt cinched around her waist, the fabric fitting well on her, and the boots she had worn with the old uniform seemed to match just as well with the dress. She'd left her hair out loose, with a pretty green silk ribbon tied up in a bow on her head.

"This looks good. What do you think?" Ginger finally asked, giving the two men a sidelong glance. Caleb cocked his head in thought.

"I've always had a deep appreciation for the color green." he replied and grinned at Wren's open-mouthed stare, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make some... adjustments... to our hotel room. Ms. Spy, you'll be joining us tonight, and we'll leave tomorrow for the temple." He gave her a polite bow and left the shop. He tugged on Pepper's sash on the way out. "Come on, Pepper, let's leave them alone for a bit. I don't think she's gonna try to hit him this time." the doll remarked with an amused grin. The mana beast trotted along by him, shooting a questioning glance back.

"Candy wear Guardian ribbon?" she asked in confusion.

"Yeah. But that's okay. If it helps them out, I can write it off as a reasonable loss." Caleb replied brightly, "Now let's go mess up our rooms!" Pepper brightened.

"Okay!"

--

Back in the shop, Ginger waved her hand in front of Wren's face, then carefully closed his mouth shut with a grin.

"You look like you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar." she snickered, "Now, are you gonna buy me this dress or not?" Wren blinked and backed away quickly.

"Can someone tell me why I'm helping a Dark Chef again?" he mumbled helplessly. Ginger stamped her foot in annoyance.

"I am _not_ a Dark Chef anymore! I _quit_! Now buy me this dress!" she declared. Wren threw up his hands in exasperation and headed for the counter, sorting out the amount of gald the shop-keeper requested. "And you didn't answer my question! Do I look good in this or not?!" The blonde mumbled something as he paid the cost of the dress. "I can't hear _youuuu_!" Ginger sang as she followed him out of the shop.

"I said you look _great_! Okay?! Is **that** what you want from me?!" Wren yelled in frustration. Ginger blinked at him, then smiled and clapped her hands with a laugh.

"Hah! Your friend was right; you are so totally a virgin! Come on! Next, we have to get me a new utensil! I threw the Dark Chef fork over a cliff when I quit." she exclaimed and grabbed his hand, ignoring his startled cry as she raced off with him in tow.

By the time they returned to the hotel, Ginger was proudly working out the finer points of using a normal sized spoon as a candy-launcher and Wren was feeling dizzy with heat. On top of that was a sick feeling that something was very wrong with Eve, but how could that be? Eve was safe in Hima with their parents, right? The check-in girl flagged him down and he looked at her in confusion.

"Your friend told us you had another guest joining you. He paid the extra fee to get you a room of your own while he took the lower-class one." she told him. Wren blinked at her, puzzled as his brain tried to work through the dizzy spell and understand her.

"Wh-what? Our room was a single bed... what fee?" he muttered, rubbing his head. The girl handed him the key.

"It's a suite, third door on the second floor. Try not to make too much noise. It disturbs the other tenants." she told him and gave him a strange look, "And take some medicine or something, you look sick. This your first time? I hope you didn't pay her in advance."

"Pay? For what? Noise? What are you talking about?" Wren echoed blankly as Ginger grabbed the key from his hand and ran up the stairs with a laugh.

"Come on! I've never been in a suite before! I get dibs on which bed's bigger!" she exclaimed. The counter girl winked at Wren.

"Don't worry, it's one big bed. I'll send up breakfast in the morning, just don't forget to put the little sign out." she told him.

"I'm gonna whack Caleb." Wren muttered tiredly, heading up after the candy-maker and wincing only after she let out a shriek at her discovery in the room. He swore he could hear the redhead laughing at him from the safety of the old room. "First, I'll dismember him, _then_ I'll whack him." the chef growled irritably, shooting an evil look at the locked bedroom.

Ginger was aiming a deadly glare at him when he finally got into the room. It _was_ big, that much he could see when things weren't trying to double on him. Wren frowned, trying hard to focus as he set the Wonder Fork down against a wall. Things didn't look right at all.

"There's only _one_ bed." Ginger hissed in a rising fury.

"Is there?" Wren murmured hollowly as he reached out to check. He stumbled on something and fell onto it. "Huh. Guess there is."

"I'm **not** sharing a bed with a loser cook! _You_ sleep on the floor! Now get off!" the woman ordered.

"Can you at least stop screaming? I've got the worst headache...." Wren complained, "And tell them to turn off the heat. Why they would put on a fire this late in the spring is beyond me." Ginger looked around and frowned.

"There's no fire. Now, will you get off my bed?" she growled.

"You sure? It's too hot in here."

"Idiot." Ginger muttered but held out a hand to his forehead on impulse. She yanked it back in shock. "You're burning up!"

"Yeah, I've kinda been saying that for the past few hours, but does anyone listen? _Nooo._" Wren grumbled irritably, glaring up at her, "Everyone ignores the Wonder Chef. Not like he's really got anything useful to talk about... unless you're hungry." Ginger sorted through her bag of candy and pulled out a deep blue gel, holding it out to him.

"Eat this! Hurry!" she told him and he sniffed.

"I'm not eating anything that came out of your bag. For all I know it's probably poison." he muttered.

"Gah! Idiot! It's not poison! It's the antidote to the poison that's already in you!" Ginger hissed, "Now eat it or I'll force it down your throat!" Wren picked the gel out of her hand.

"Okay, fine. Such a bossy little candy-maker. But if I die, I'll come back to repay the favor." he muttered and popped it into his mouth. He chewed, then swallowed and suddenly smiled. "Hey, that was pretty good. It's like being wrapped up in a big invisible blanket or something."

"Good. It'll purge the poison from your system pretty quickly. Now get off the bed!" Ginger growled but by then Wren was already fast asleep.

* * *

Morning brought a sense of rejuvenation for Wren as he yawned and stretched comfortably. Most of last night was hazy, but he remembered he wanted to do many painful things to Caleb. What for? Sitting up in bed, Wren rubbed his eyes and blinked at Ginger dozing in the large plush loveseat not far from him.

"Oh, that's right." he grumbled, "That's why I want to turn Caleb into scrap iron." He stayed put, rubbing at his head and slowly coming to the realization that the fever and dizziness he'd been feeling the other day had gone completely. Whatever it was that was making him sick was probably finally gone now. But the sensation that something was wrong somewhere still stuck to him, a sinking feeling that made his stomach lurch for a moment. He shook it off as best he could and jumped at the knocking on the door.

"Breakfast." the serving maid intoned as she pushed the cart with its covered dish at him. She looked him over and Wren blushed, unsure what to do in his situation. "Huh, you're a cute one, but I didn't think you'd be that quiet in the sack. I was pretty sure there'd be more of a racket up here." she remarked and shrugged, "Oh well. Lost twenty gald there again."

"Ugh! Beat it!" Wren growled, "I'm not doing _anything_ with that crazy woman on the couch!"

"So you didn't even make a move? Goddess, you're pathetic." the maid grinned and left him with the breakfast cart. He grabbed and took it into the room. Wren wasn't in the mood for people messing with his head that day. He already had plenty to worry about with Caleb and his constant jabs at him.

"Papa.... Gran-mama...." Ginger moaned suddenly, shifting in her sleep. The blonde glanced at her warily as he lifted the cover from the dish. Who served vegetable soup for breakfast? Wren sighed and shook his head.

"Amateurs. I guess I'll have to have a talk with the cook here." he muttered as he took a taste. "Hmm. Not bad. Needs a little work with the flavoring, but whoever did this is Wonder Recruit caliber."

"Papa! Run away!" Ginger screamed suddenly, thrashing about. Wren stood in concern, watching for a moment as the spy twisted around and reached out blindly. "Lightning! Lightning! Run, Papa! Everyone, run away!" she cried and would have fallen had the chef not darted in to keep her from throwing herself off the couch. She snapped awake and stared up at him.

"Um. Hi?" Wren stammered out, "You were screaming, so I...."

"Get off!" Ginger yelled, pounding her fists on him, "And don't you think I had any interest in you! This stupid room was Red's idea! And it was probably yours, too!" Wren threw her off back onto the seat and stood back in irritation. She sat still for a bit, rubbing her arm uncomfortably as a faint blush crept along her cheeks. "So... what did you hear?" she finally asked in a soft voice.

"Well, you were screaming about your father and lightning.... Hey... are you from Ozette?" Wren questioned in realization. Ginger bowed her head, rubbing her hands together. "I don't believe this! You're THAT Spicewood?!" he exclaimed in shock, "I thought the whole Spicewood Family had been killed when Mithos attacked the village! How did you survive?!"

"I wasn't _in_ Ozette at the time. I was in Sybak, picking up the imported ingredients for our candies." Ginger mumbled and shook her head, glaring up at him. "It doesn't matter. I'm the only Spicewood left, and I have to restore my family's reputation and honor in the confectionery business!"

"I'm sorry about your loss. The Wonder Chef Family held the Spicewood Family in high regards for the good they did." Wren murmured sympathetically and turned back at the sound of another knock. "Uh... door's open!" Caleb stuck his head in with a grin.

"_Goooood_ _morning!_" he sang and yelped as Wren grabbed the Wonder Fork and tried to smash his head.

"Caleb! You jerk, what the **hell** were you thinking, sticking me in a room like this with her?! Do you have any idea what rumors are now running around because of this?!" Wren raged as Ginger got up and proceeded to eat the stew left for breakfast. She grinned as the chef chased the doll up and down the hallway.

--

Once all was said and done, the group gathered for a talk just outside the gates of Meltokio. Pepper sniffed at Ginger for a bit, then seemed to accept her.

"Candy okay. Yummy okay too?" she remarked. Wren shrugged, the fork once again strapped across his back.

"I'm fine. I was sick yesterday, but I got over it." he answered. Caleb looked at him in concern as Ginger turned on him from petting the mana beast.

"Hey! My candy _healed_ you! What are you talking about, '_got over it_'?!" she yelled.

"What do you mean you were sick? That bug came back?" Caleb asked worriedly, "That's the third time! What's _wrong_ with you?" Wren shook his head and shrugged helplessly, looking up at him with a vaguely fearful expression.

"I don't know. But I'm worried that next time I'm just gonna die from whatever this is." he returned. Ginger waved her hand at them.

"Don't worry about it. If Blondie gets sick again, I can just cure him with my special candy." she assured them with a grin.

"I _have_ a name, you know." Wren growled at her.

"Wonder Chef is not a name."

"It's Adam! _Adam!_" Wren snapped at her in frustration, hands shaking erratically at her, "My name is Adam Voraci! Not Blondie, not Yummy, not anything else! Call me Adam or call me Wren!"

"Okay, **fine**. Suck all the fun out of this." Ginger grumbled and looked thoughtful. "Adam suits you, but I guess I'll call you Wren. Everyone else seems to do that anyway."

"All right then! Now that all that is done, let's get going to the Temple of Darkness!" Caleb remarked cheerfully. The spy yelped and pulled out a small, round, candy-coated disc.

"That's right! I haven't detonated my other candies yet!" she exclaimed. The two men stared at her. "If I destroy Meltokio, then it can't be used in DuGorge's plans. So, say good-bye to it!" she declared as she held her thumb over the center of the candy. Pepper brightened as Caleb and Wren both cried in shock and tried to stop the spy.

"Goodie!" the mana beast exclaimed and licked it up, crunching away at the detonator. Ginger stared at her in horror.

"Ah! Now those blast candies won't go off!" she exclaimed and shot Caleb a glare, "I just wasted a whole batch of blast candy! You owe me again!" The doll only grinned and shook his head.

"As long as Meltokio doesn't explode, that's fine with me." he replied and motioned to them, "Well, let's go! Off to the Temple of Darkness! Wren, you're gonna have to alternate riding Pepper with Ginger." The chef blinked, then turned to see Ginger clamber unsteadily onto Pepper's back, then settle down with a grin, sticking her tongue out at him as the mana beast trotted after Caleb.

"I don't like how this cookie crumbled." Wren growled as he stalked after the group.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

With the inclusion of Ginger in the little band of friends, Caleb had to rethink the pace of travel. Alone, he and Pepper could easily traverse hundreds of miles in a single day. With Wren, that distance was severely limited, with stops needed to allow him sleep, food, and other necessities, not to mention the interruptions brought on by the needs of the Wonder Organization and whatever mayhems DuGorge had set up. Just as Wren would forget that Caleb wasn't human, Caleb would forget that Wren **was**. Sometimes it took seeing the blonde wilting on Pepper's back to alert him that a break was needed. Given the number of times this happened, Caleb suspected that his young friend wasn't at his peak health, as he had been in the early days of their friendship.

Now there was this young woman in the mix, so not only did Caleb have to recalculate travel time and break times, but factor in the problem of young human hormones and the sheer truth that Wren simply couldn't stand her attitude when it came to candy and himself.

"If you **both** don't shut up, I'm going to leave you here on your own!" the redhead finally snapped at them as they continued to make their way southwest of the regal city. Both Ginger and Wren quieted and stared at him in shock. "You're both being such... brats!"

"Says the old man." Ginger grumbled.

"I'll have you know I'm only a year and one-quarter old!" Caleb shot back and rubbed his head as the confectioner spun her finger around her ear in regards to him, "Man. According to my internal clock, it's two in the afternoon. We haven't made much progress, but we may as well break for lunch."

"Oh, good. _Please_ tell me we have the ingredients for beef stew and potato salad." Wren sighed in relief, "I have had this craving for meat and potatoes since yesterday."

"In Pepper's pack. I'm going to review some data and input the information collected about the Temple of Earth. Shouldn't take more than an hour." the doll replied as Ginger slid off of Pepper's back and gave the mana beast a hug for the ride.

"Such a sweet thing! I wish I had one to ride on! Can she really fly with those wings?" she asked, thinking about the transport dragon she had sold once she became part of Caleb's group.

"Yes, she can. She's still young and she can barely speak well, but considering that Orator is the only mana beast created to speak, that's a miracle for her." the doll answered and smiled, "It makes life a little easier for us. I'm glad to hear her speak." He pulled out the reader/writer device and sat down in a small clearing as Wren set to work building a cooking fire.

"What's that?" Ginger asked, studying the unit in Caleb's hand.

"A data crystal reader/writer unit. It lets me store data I've collected into a crystal. I've got a few of them stored away with lots of information already in them." the doll replied with a grin, glad to find someone who had an interest in his area of expertise. He may not be Wonder Chef class when it came to cooking, but when it came to devices and artifacts built by dwarves, his only better was Lloyd himself.

"Amazing! Where do you find data crystals? Are they made? Is it magitechnology? Does the Wonder Organization have one? It's something I never knew about, so I never bothered asking them when I was a recruit." Ginger questioned excitedly as Wren grumbled under his breath, working with the ingredients for lunch.

"Well, they do, but it's under heavy seals. I had to get special permission to see it." Caleb answered carefully, "And there wasn't much to learn about in there that isn't already common knowledge. As for where I get data crystals, Pepper makes them. She's a mana beast and can make mana crystals for me whenever I need them. Since data crystals are an altered form of mana crystal, Pepper learned to create them without the refining process."

"What do you need mana crystals for?" Ginger asked in confusion.

"For energy. I'm an automated doll. I'm not really human." Caleb told her and grinned at her astonished look, "I get that a lot. Believe me, you're taking it better than Wren did."

"Mostly because I had to find out on my own." Wren muttered, poking at the stew before resuming work on the potato salad.

"But I thought automated dolls were a technology that had been lost during the Kharlan War!" Ginger exclaimed.

"Well, it wasn't. Cruxis had much of the magitechnology and sciences that were thought to be lost, including projectors, reader/writer devices like this one, data crystals, and dolls like me." Caleb explained to her, "Sort of to make what they did look like holy magic, angel powers and all that junk. It helped that they made sure people down here didn't know anything about it."

"Except for the Wonder Organization." Wren pointed out proudly, "I know more about magitechnology than Caleb does!" Ginger gave him an intrigued look. "The Wonder Organization had a deal with Mithos; as long as we didn't interfere with what he did with the worlds, he would leave our magitechnology and history alone." he pointed out, "So, I got to learn about the different types of magitechnology that he destroyed in the two worlds."

"Hm." Ginger murmured and went to pester him for a while. Caleb grinned and put his fingers to the device.

"Thanks, Martel." he murmured before closing his eyes and delving into the limited reality of the data crystal.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

DuGorge looked up from his recipes to watch the dozens of Dark Chefs working furiously to cook the candy mixes with the extra ingredients as per the Master Chef's master plan. He grinned and nodded, returning to his lists only moments before a messenger walked up to him.

"We have a small problem with the girl." he murmured softly to the Master Chef, "You might want to see this." DuGorge grumbled under his breath and followed the messenger back to the chamber where the adopted Desians worked carefully. He stepped into the room and scowled as they paused and looked up at him warily.

"What's the problem?" he growled. Eve lay silently on the work table, hands folded over her stomach as dwarves worked on the crest already attached to the base of her neck. A woman at the console waved her hand hesitantly at him.

"It's the compatibility test results. She matched very well for the particular Exsphere and Key Crest combination you wanted, but when it came to storing the data, we came across an error." she told him.

"Error? I'm a chef; I don't **do** errors." DuGorge growled angrily. The woman winced and swallowed.

"It's with the records we have." she explained quickly, "They're copies of the ones Cruxis maintained for themselves after the human ranches were destroyed in Sylvarant."

"So?"

"We tried to save the results of her tests under her last name, but according to Cruxis, there already is a file for Voraci."

**"What?!"**

The room seemed to tremble under the force of DuGorge's shriek. Half-elves ducked under tables, dwarves froze in their carving and the humans winced painfully. DuGorge glowered at the woman at the console. She poked at the keyboard and gulped.

"Well. There is. According to the old file, the subject matched the compatibility test when taken to Welgaia. A Cruxis Crystal was attached, but no other data was recorded. All files end at the same time, the day Lloyd and his group destroyed Mithos' World Prolongation plan but not the Tower of Salvation itself." she stammered out, "I can save the file for the girl under a family grouping, but the old file won't be erased. Lord Yggdrasill had this one marked special and password protected."

"Why?!"

"Don't know. Ask Mithos." the woman griped, "Oh yeah. You can't. He's dead."

"Don't give me an attitude! Just get her ready and stop bothering me with useless information about nothing important!" DuGorge snapped and stormed off. The group looked at each other, then at the file in confusion.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Caleb completed the data transfer and looked up at the two humans sitting at the cooking fire. Wren looked furious while Ginger had a smug expression on her face. Pepper merely looked at the two and gave Caleb an irritated look for leaving her alone with them.

"What happened?" the doll asked, lost.

"She called me a sell-out!" Wren spat out, blushing furiously, "She doesn't get it! If we hadn't made that deal, we'd be just as ruined as the rest of the worlds! The Wonder Organization would have completely died out!"

"Which makes you no better than the Dark Chefs. You sold out the worlds to save yourselves." Ginger taunted, "You say you're helping the world. How are you helping when you're hiding so much knowledge?"

"Don't insult me." Wren growled, "I risked my hide to change all that. It was the deal made by my ancestors that saved the Wonder Organization long enough for me to be able to help the Heroes of Union stop all the insanity Mithos created!"

"Oh, what a hero you are." the former spy yawned mockingly and again Wren shook his hands at her, snarling something out in a language that made Caleb's head hurt trying to translate it. He shook his head helplessly.

"Can we get going? I'd like to reach the Temple of Darkness while I'm still functional." he told them pointedly, "And Wren? Shut up, please. That babbling is really annoying. Especially since I can't understand that dialect." Wren jumped up and ran for Pepper, reaching her before Ginger could figure out what was going on.

"Fine! But, _I_ ride this time! You can walk, Ms. Candy-Maker!" he taunted from the mana beast's back. Ginger scowled.

"Don't call me that!" she snapped. They continued on towards the distant temple, Caleb calmly switching off audio so he wouldn't have to listen to the bickering and warring between the two chefs.

--

It took the group another week of travel to reach the Temple of Darkness, during which Wren and Ginger yelled, fought, and jabbed at each other with only Caleb and Pepper to referee the battles of words. More than once the doll had to deal with one or the other breaking down under the onslaught and crying their eyes out. After a bit of a pep talk and some comforting words to re-establish their self-worth and value, he'd watch in irritation as the boy or girl he spoke with thanked him and ran back into the fray with all bolts firing.

"I can't stand you! You're such a selfish, imperious little pig! And your food tastes like crap I wouldn't feed a mangy dog about to die and go to hell!" both of them would scream at each other, arms waving and fists a blur in the air. They were very animated in their 'arguments' and Caleb managed to fashion earmuffs for Pepper to wear so she wouldn't be constantly tempted to blast both youths' minds with her Ascension power, forgetting that she could still sense the emotions and thus be aggravated no matter what he did.

"Martel, do **all** kids who have the hots for each other go through this kind of thing?" the doll sighed under his breath as the giant blue dome that sheltered the Temple of Darkness came into view, sitting pretty on top of a mountain in the distance.

"Ugh, your face makes me want to puke! Why don't you go home and rot with all the other idiots that fawn and dote over you?! Such a brat! Pig! Priss! Loser! Witch! Bastard! Candy-Maker! Dog! Tooth-Rotter! _Enfant __gâté__! Bella non speranza!_" Wren and Ginger went on shrieking. Pepper finally bucked and threw Wren off of her back.

"Whoa! Hey!" Caleb exclaimed as he dashed into place to catch the chef before he hit the ground.

"Yummy Candy fight stupid!" Pepper growled and stuck her tongue out at them, "_Pbbt!_ No ride for stupids!"

"She started it!" Wren blurted out in protest and Caleb gave him a droll expression, dropping him on the spot. "Ow!"

"You're **both** idiots. And for the last time, use the standard language!" the doll growled and looked up at the dome, "I guess I forgot to ask about how to reach some of the temples. I bet there's no path up the mountain for it either."

"So we can't get in?" Ginger asked with a grin. "Too bad. And I _sooo_ was looking forward to seeing if Blondie was afraid of the dark." Wren shot a glare at her as Caleb studied the distance, gauging it carefully in his head.

"Pepper, you're gonna have to fly us up there one by one." the doll finally decided.

"No! Pepper not give rides to stupid Yummy and stupid Candy!" she yelled and snorted, planting her rump down on the grass. Wren scrambled up and ran to her.

"Oh, come on, Pepper!" he pleaded, "Fly us up to the temple! I'll make your favorite snack if you take me first! Fruit cocktails!" Ginger blinked and ran up to the mana beast as well, shoving him out of the way.

"Sweet Pepper! I've got something better than fruit cocktails!" she cooed, "How about some of my juicy fruit chewies for taking **me** first instead?" Wren jumped up with a snarl and shoved her back.

"Pepper doesn't want candy that can drop an eggbear in its tracks!" he growled and smiled up at the mana beast, "She wants a nice fruit shortcake! Right, Pepper?"

"She wants my apple cider snaps!" Ginger shouted and kicked at him, "Out of the way!" The two slammed shoulders, glaring at one another as Pepper looked at them each in annoyance.

"No, she doesn't! She hates candy more than I do!" Wren growled, "She wants fruit cocktail!"

"Candy apples!"

"Shortcake!"

"Chocolate banana chips!"

"Ice cream!"

"_Shut up!_" Caleb yelled at last and glared at the two startled teens, "**I'll** decide who goes first." He shut his eyes, ran a few simulations in his head, then opened his eyes with a smile. "I got it! Wren goes first!"

"Hah!" the Wonder Chef crowed as Ginger gave him a disgusted look.

"Because then he can teleport back here and take us up there in one trip with the Wonder Fork." Caleb finished with a wider smile. Wren looked at him with open-mouthed astonishment.

"_What?!_" he cried as Ginger pointed at him with a laugh.

"Hah! You're gonna be our ticket up there! All aboard the Wonder Train!" she taunted.

"Yeah, you seem desperate for a ride." Wren growled the first retort that came to his mind.

"Pervert!" Ginger spat back after a moment of considering the unintentional innuendo and began pounding on the chef's head again. Caleb hid his face in his hands and shook his head.

"Martel, Sister, grant me strength...." he moaned softly. It took a lot of convincing on the doll's part, but Pepper finally gave in and carried Wren on her back up the mountain, wings spread as she flew around in a rising circle. Caleb watched her grow smaller and smaller, then looked back at Ginger. "Now, what are you really after?" he asked in a serious tone.

"What?" the woman asked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"You keep messing with Wren's head." the doll pointed out and grinned, "You on the hunt for a man?" Ginger turned red and huffed indignantly.

"How _dare_ you insult me! There's no **way** I'd have anything to do with some stupid cook who can't appreciate the mastery and difficulty in creating high-quality candy!" she snapped and folded her arms over her chest, "I am a Spicewood, the last of a proud family of confectioners! I will marry no one less than my level of candy creation!"

"And a Wonder Chef doesn't make the cut?"

"Peh! He's not even a _real_ wonder! He probably stumbled into it like an idiot!" Ginger pointed out with a sneer, "DuGorge said that he wasn't even _supposed_ to be the Wonder Chef; he's not fit for the title. Chefs are so egotistical, they probably made up that fairy tale to justify it!"

"Fairy tale? Do you even _know_ what the story is behind the origin of the Wonder Chef?" Caleb asked, eyebrow raised. Ginger sniffed haughtily, then wilted and shook her head.

"Not really. The Dark Chefs have one version of the legend but I can't trust their word, and the only other stories I know of the Wonder Chef were told to me by my grandmother." she mumbled, kicking at the earth. Caleb sighed and hoped he had time to tell the story before Wren returned to the group.

"Look, this is how it basically started...." he began and told the former spy about Eru Tanreht and his two companions; of the journey to seal the Famine Lord seven thousand years ago; the devastation that remained after the battle with the entity; the creation of what became known as the Ultimate Recipe to save those left behind; and the crafting of the Wonder Fork to keep Eru safe from those who sought to learn the Recipe. Ginger listened in silence, a deeply thoughtful expression on her face, bristling only once at the mention of the half-elf Kartha.

"So that's _really_ it?" she murmured after the story ended, "Okay, so he might have me there." Ginger folded her arms over her chest with a stubborn expression, almond-shaped eyes flashing hotly, "That still doesn't mean I have _any_ interest in the guy other than making sure that he helps me restore my family's honor!" Caleb threw his hands up in exasperation as a burst of smoke revealed Wren standing in the clearing again.

"Okay. I have the link set up, but you're not gonna like it in there." he muttered as he walked up to join the two of them. He held up the Wonder Fork for the teleportation. Ginger clapped her hands excitedly, face lighting up at the prospect of experiencing another new form of travel.

"This is gonna be so cool! I've never traveled like this before!" she exclaimed brightly.

"Don't get used to it." Wren grumbled before the three of them vanished in a burst of white smoke.

--

The Temple of Darkness was not a misnomer. The group staggered about blindly at the entrance as Caleb and Pepper tried to use their own lights to brighten the area.

"I forgot we needed the blue candle for this one. That's what the picture Zelos drew was for!" the doll sighed and tried to project various tints and shades of blue light in hopes of finding the one that would mimic the holy candle. He couldn't and, with a despairing groan, Caleb sat back against the wall and rubbed his head. "Now what?"

"You're _touching_ me! Stop it!" Ginger yelled angrily.

"I'm not touching you! Why would I want to even be _near_ you?!" Wren argued.

"Wren! Do me a favor!" Caleb yelled out and waited for the two other voices to quiet down. "Can you go back to Lloyd's house and see if he's got the blue candle?"

"Yeah, okay. Anything to get away from Ms. Candy-Mak-ow!"

"I **told** you not to call me that!"

"And take her along. I need time to think without listening to the both of you screaming. In _any_ language." Caleb added with a growl. Wren rubbed at his shin with a wince and blinked at him.

"What?"

"You heard me, human! Take the woman and get the candle!" the doll yelled, kicking and waving his fists in the air, "Getgetget!" Ginger yelped and ran to hide behind the chef, who held the fork before him defensively and with wide eyes.

"Between you and a doll that can go insane at any second, you're the lesser evil." she muttered.

"Feeling's mutual." Wren agreed and the two vanished in a burst of white smoke. Caleb smiled and sighed in relief.

"Finally!" he remarked brightly, smiling up at Pepper who returned the toothy grin, "Now we can enjoy the silence!"

~*~*~*~*~*

The floor actually held this time and Ginger looked around for a moment before turning a flushed glare at Wren.

"This is a _bedroom_! You pervert!" she shrieked and began to pound her fists on him, ignoring his yells and attempts to protect his head. The noise attracted attention from below as three heads poked up from the top of the stairwell.

"Why do you keep coming back?" Kratos grumbled, "I thought we were going to have a peaceful day to pack and leave."

"You're not good with the ladies, huh, Wonder Boy?" Zelos teased, grinning as he gave Ginger a quick look over, "You wanted a feisty one or just plain psychotic?"

"What's he doing with that girl, Dad?" Lloyd asked, looking up at the rusty-haired swordsman after watching Wren try to struggle back to contain the barrage of punches.

"Something I hope **you'll** do eventually. I want grandchildren." Kratos muttered with a pointed sideways glare. Wren yelled again and raced for the stairs, jumping down past them to get away from the former spy. Ginger ran after him, then halted and stared at Zelos.

"Caleb? What are you doing in that stupid get-up?" she asked. The redhead looked miffed.

"Hey, babe. It's _Zelos_, and this 'get-up' was something my bro and Dad made for me!" he declared and headed back downstairs, "Now I gotta make sure you didn't chase the Wonder Chef into my kitchen."

"Are you one of Caleb's new friends?" Lloyd asked as he took her hand and helped her down the stairs. Kratos stayed behind and gave the room one last look around before following them down, scratching his head.

"Should I just put our welcome mat in there?" he asked.

--

The group finally was gathered around the table in the downstairs area as Wren took time to introduce Ginger to the three swordsmen, grinning at her startled expression.

"This is Lloyd Irving Aurion, the Eternal Swordsman. He's the binding force behind the Heroes of Union. If it wasn't for him, Symphonia wouldn't exist." he told her, "And this is Kratos Aurion, one of the Four Seraphim I told you about. He's Lloyd's father and the one who gave me the okay to teach Lloyd's group the enhanced recipes." Ginger looked between them in awe. "And this is Zelos Wilder, the former Chosen of Tethe'alla and also the man Caleb was modeled after. You're lucky that Caleb doesn't have more of his personality."

"I've got a _beautiful_ personality, what are you talking about?" Zelos whimpered, "Everybody loves me!" Kratos slid his plate across the table with a grin.

"You know what I'd love right now? More lunch. Sandwich! Sandwich!" he laughed. Ginger shook her head as the swordsman left to grab more sandwiches from the kitchen.

"This is amazing! I never thought I'd actually get to meet the Heroes of Union!" she squealed, "Wow! And such hunky guys, too!" Wren shot her a glare and folded his arms over his chest with a pout.

"So what brings the Wonder Chef back into our abode?" Kratos remarked while Lloyd tried to figure out if the funny, pouty faces Ginger was making meant something or were just to make Wren mad. And why she kept making them at him; Lloyd didn't know many funny faces to make back.

"We've reached an impasse at the Temple of Darkness and need the blue candle to progress further. Can we borrow the one that you used?" Wren asked, restraining the impulse to whap either Ginger or Lloyd with the Wonder Fork. Lloyd blinked and looked around.

"I dunno. Dad? Zelos? Do we still have the blue candle?" he asked the other swordsmen, one of which was now returning with a large plate of sandwiches for the group to snack on.

"That thing? Nope. I thought you gave it Raine." the redhead told him with a confused expression, "She picked it up from us during that one... thing." He set down the plate and held up his hands together, flapping them quickly to mimic wings. "Remember?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry, Wren. Raine's got the candle." the brunet agreed with an apologetic smile. Ginger looked at the chef as he groaned.

"Who's _Raine_?" she asked, a strange tone in her voice.

"Another of the Heroes of Union." Kratos answered with a grin, "There is a rather humorous story concerning her and our little blonde friend, here. Raine is a healer, and a good one at that, with our Zelos a close second. However, Raine is not what one would consider 'gentle' with those who rub her the wrong way." Ginger raised an eyebrow at that, then shot Wren a glare as he tried to slump down and slide off his chair.

"_Really_? Let's go see this _Raine_ and find out what this _story_ is. Blondie! Up and at 'em, boy!" she declared, jumping up from her chair. Wren only groaned louder, head barely level with the table now.

"Do I have to? Why don't we just get a normal candle and paint it blue?" he complained. He yelped as the woman hauled him up by the arms, struggling to drag him out from his hiding spot. "Hey! Stop!"

"Let's go!"

"I don't even know where she is!"

"Neither do we. The only person who would know for sure would be Sheena in New Mizuho." Lloyd added, "Genis might too, unless he's still at the Yggdrasill."

"I thought Yggdrasill was dead!" Ginger exclaimed in surprise.

"The tree! It's the name of the World Tree!" Lloyd explained with an irritated sigh, "I named it after Mithos!"

"Why?"

"Because... it doesn't matter right now. Go to New Mizuho. Sheena will tell you where Raine is." the brunet grumbled.

"I don't have a link to New Mizuho!" the chef exclaimed, "Why do you people keep moving around?!"

"Oh _relax_. New Mizuho looks exactly the same as old Mizuho. In fact, it's still called just Mizuho. Use the same spot as before." Zelos told him cheerfully. Wren sighed and stood up, fork in hand for the teleportation. Ginger jumped excitedly.

"Ooh! Wait! Can I see Kratos' wings first? Please? I've never actually seen a real angel before!" she pleaded in a girlish tone. The swordsmen looked at one another in mild surprise, then grinned and nodded.

"Three?" Lloyd asked and the others agreed silently, "Okay! One! Two!" At the third count, three sets of mana wings flashed into view, shades of gold and rose, dark blue and emerald, blue and indigo.

"Oh wow! You're all angels!" Ginger exclaimed in awe as she kept looking around at the wings fluttering on each man's back. Wren took a startled step back.

"When did _that_ happen?! I saw only Kratos and Colette with wings! When did Lloyd and Zelos become angels?!" he cried in shock.

"Well, Lloyd got his wings after Mithos died and he got full control over the Eternal Sword. Didn't Caleb tell you the reason why he looks like me?" Zelos asked, gold and rose wings lightly coating the table and floor with mana dust.

"He mentioned a crazy angel stealing your body, but that was it." the chef mumbled, "He didn't go into any details."

"Well, that was how he did it. Turned me into an angel, and I did **not** like the whole process one bit. I told you guys I wouldn't!" the former Chosen pointed out to his family, "See? Being a Chosen sucked!"

"Pretty wings." Ginger cooed as Wren rubbed his head in thought.

"You had a Cruxis Crystal, right? I thought your Key Crest was made to control it." he murmured.

"The Key Crest was destroyed; I had to get another one after the whole thing was done with." Zelos grumbled, "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"What if the Key Crest _is_ okay? The whole thing, I mean. The crystal is perfectly normal, the Key Crest is perfectly fine, subject matches everything; would that still cause an angel transformation?" Wren asked carefully.

"No. Unless the crest was a blank. Then, yeah, that would have done it. Soul-sucked angel bit, the whole nine yards. Why?" Zelos answered with a raised eyebrow.

"No reason." Wren replied quickly and held up the fork, "Well, thanks for the information, guys! Onwards! To Mizuho!" They vanished in a burst of white smoke and both Lloyd and Zelos looked at Kratos.

"You told the Wonder Chef to give us better recipes?" Lloyd asked him. Kratos shrugged.

"He looked like the kind of person who would change the system, too. Very much like you, Lloyd. You changed this world, but he's still trying to change his." he remarked with a shrug, "So, what's for dessert?"

~*~*~*~*~*

Mizuho did indeed look exactly the same as before the move, even though the dark aionite of the Wonder Fork slipped a bit from the slight change in mana, dumping both chefs just outside of the Chief's hut instead of just inside it. Sheena looked down in confusion at the two intruders to the village even as other ninjas raced to surround both Wren and Ginger.

"What are you doing here?" Sheena asked in a puzzled tone. Wren blinked up at her and grinned sheepishly, "And who's your friend?"

"She's not my friend." Wren growled automatically and winced as Ginger punched his arm. "See? She wants to hurt me!"

"Chief! Are they friends of yours? They were not acknowledged and granted permission to enter Mizuho!" the others pointed out.

"Oh, come **on**! _Look_ at him!" Sheena griped as she helped Wren to his feet, "The hat, the cape, the giant fork! It's the Wonder Chef!" The ninjas looked at each other uncertainly.

"That doesn't make him immune to the rules of the village, nor is his woman under the same immunity." they finally decided, though one looked as if he was hoping for something to eat.

"I say he and the girl are welcome in the village!" Sheena told the group firmly and helped Ginger stand, "So, what brings you two to Mizuho?"

"First, I'm **not** his woman!" Ginger growled, "Second, I'm not his _friend_ either! Third, my name's Ginger Spicewood."

"All right." Sheena remarked in confusion, "Again, why are the two of you here?" Wren explained his request and pointed out Caleb's journey and the need for the blue candle. "Oh, that? I know all about that already. Caleb's journey to archive the world is pretty big news here in Mizuho." the ninja answered brightly, "We're hoping he'll come to archive our history, too! Then our ancient ways of life will be forever preserved!"

"I'll tell him about it. So, where's Raine?" Wren asked.

"New Palmacosta; she heard about the new supply of ancient books they recently got and went over to see what was up." Sheena told him.

"Okay, thanks!" the chef thanked her and held out the fork for another teleport, "I hope Caleb doesn't get worried about us taking so long." Sheena waved her hands at him.

"Wait, wait! I have something for your friend here. Maybe it will ease up on the obvious tensions between you two." she added with a grin and headed for her hut. Ginger and Wren looked at each other in confusion. "Ginger, right? Come on! This is girls only!"

"Ha ha, you can't come!" Ginger taunted the chef and ran after Sheena, turning back once to give him a teasing wink.

"Whoever said girls were a joy was drunk and stupid." the young Wonder Chef muttered in irritation, folding his arms over his chest.

--

Inside the hut, Sheena was searching through a small box of items while Ginger stepped carefully into the room. She spotted the ninja's shoes by the doorway and slipped off her own, wondering what that was really about.

"What is it that you wanted to show me?" the confectioner asked. Sheena lifted a ring from her box and stood to show it to her.

"My name is Sheena Fujibayashi, a Hero of Union and a summoner. This is the Sardonyx Ring. I received it from Volt when I made the pact with him." she replied, "It's a very precious item, so take good care of it." She handed the ring to Ginger who stared at it in awe.

"You're _giving_ this to me?! Why? You barely know who I am!" she exclaimed. Sheena waved her hand flippantly, a smile on her face.

"Actually, it's more like a loan. You look like you could use its effects more than me. Indulge me! Wear it and things should work out for you." the summoner replied, "Now, you'd better get going. I don't think the Wonder Chef likes waiting around for too long."

"Like I'm really worried about what it is Adam likes or doesn't like." Ginger muttered as she slipped on the ring. Sheena grinned. "Thank you very much for the ring, Ms. Sheena. I'll take really good care of it." She waved good-bye as she left the hut and the summoner leaned back against the wall, the knowing grin still on her face.

"Volt's ring will come in so handy. And I thought its side effect was going to be completely useless." she murmured with a laugh.

~*~*~*~*~*

New Palmacosta's academy seemed to have been taken over by Raine Sage as she poured over the many books Caleb had donated to the school from the Tower of Mana. Wren and Ginger peered in on her and walked up to greet her cautiously. Ginger made sure she stayed out of range while the chef tapped her shoulder.

"Ah, Professor Sage, right? Raine? May I ask you something?" he greeted softly. Raine looked up from the book, blinked at him, then frowned.

"_You!_ You're that rude chef!" she declared and slapped his head, ignoring his shout, "You didn't think I'd remember that, did you?!"

"Ow.... Sorry, but Passable Chef **was** the best you could get...." Wren whimpered. The half-elf looked indignant as she folded her arms over her chest.

"You shouldn't be judging people by how they cook. That's a form of discrimination!" she lectured, "Besides! I was innovating recipes! You should be thanking me for my creative use of ingredients!"

"I said I was sorry!" Wren complained in irritation, "Anyway, can I borrow the blue candle? Caleb wants to explore the Temple of Darkness and we can't go any further without it." Raine brightened, an excited flush coming over her face.

"That doll is going exploring in the temples, too?! How exciting! That's something I'd like to study in detail! How can a doll built by a dwarf cope with the dangers and puzzles of a temple built to house a Summon Spirit?" she exclaimed. Ginger snickered behind her hand, then looked innocent as Wren glared back at her.

"Yes, well, he's been coping fine. We just need that candle for this next temple." the chef explained. Raine dug into her pack and brought out the candlestick, handing it to him.

"Take care of it. It's the only one we have and buying them from the Elemental Research Laboratory is expensive." she pointed out, "Give my regards to Caleb and Altessa. Did that dwarf really allow Caleb to go running around in temples? What a push for the sake of science!"

"Um, yeah. Thank you." Wren replied and pocketed the candle, "Let's go, Ginger."

"So, you're a Hero of Union, too? Wow, that's amazing!" the dark-haired confectioner purred, "Are you an elf?"

"I'm a half-elf. And yes, I'm a Hero of Union, though that means I'll probably wind up in history as well." Raine replied and blushed, "I don't think I'll ever get over the idea that I'm going to become something others will study in the future."

"A half-elf?" Ginger muttered, a tone of derisiveness coming into her voice.

"Ah, gotta go! Bye!" Wren yelped in a panic and held out the fork, sending both of them vanishing in a burst of smoke as Raine blinked at the puff. She smiled, eyes shining.

"MARVELOUS!" she breathed.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

* * *

Caleb looked up from the three items in his hands as Wren and Ginger burst back into the dome. Salmendra's Proof, the white silver, and the Mermaid's Tear all went back into the doll's pouch as he stood with Pepper to see them back. He blinked at them and looked slightly suspicious.

"Welcome back, you two. Did you find the blue candle?" he asked. Wren didn't notice the expression as he hurried over with the item.

"Yeah, but Raine had it so I got what was coming to me for so long." he chuckled. Caleb accepted the candlestick and gave Ginger one more wary look before taking the lantern from inside the pack on the mana beast's harness and slipping the stick inside. He lit it and the dome filled with holy light. "So, are we ready to go?"

"Yes, we are. Now that we have the blue candle, things should be easier to navigate." Caleb murmured as he tied the lantern to the harness. Ginger walked up to stroke Pepper's snout, watching Wren and the doll.

"Caleb, are you okay? You sound strange." the chef asked, giving his friend a concerned look. Caleb nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine. Let's go." he muttered and headed for the bridge. "Didn't think it'd go through so fast." he sighed to himself with a sad little smile.

"What's with Red?" Ginger asked in confusion as she walked after Caleb and Pepper with Wren beside her. "He's acting weird." Wren gave her a helpless look, shrugging.

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't think I really know him that well. I've only been around him a few months and even then it was on and off." the chef replied and looked worried, "Do you think he's mad at me about something?" The group entered the temple and looked out at the confusing architecture that made up the tiers and catwalks that staggered through the openness of the Temple of Darkness. Caleb led them through a second doorway to a series of stairs. Ginger shrugged back as she squinted at the pitch black just beyond the range of the blue candle's light.

"Dunno. What'd you do to him?" she asked with a grin, "You seem to always be either causing trouble or getting into it." Wren glared back at her.

"I do not! Take that back!" he growled. They came out of the side stairwell to the bottom of the main chamber, looking up several floors at the entrance they came through originally. Caleb searched around, taking in as much as he could see of the structures.

"Hey, quiet. Anyone hear that?" he asked warily as the party made a stop on the open area at the end of the rising ramp. The humans strained their hearing, found nothing, and shook their heads. Pepper went into a quiet trance, then snapped out with her low half-growl, half-hiss, fur lifting in rising anger. "There are still monsters in here. I can hear chanting." the doll pointed out and turned to look back at Wren and Ginger, "Let's hurry down to the lower levels. That's where I wanted to head off to anyway. Shadow's seal is at the bottom level."

They made their way cautiously to the second staircase, one that seemed to descend into pure black ink. Beyond the fifteenth or so step, no one could see what was below though they were fairly sure that whatever might be down there could see them perfectly. Ginger backed behind Wren, gazing fearfully down into the pit as she picked at the red cape to pull across her.

"I don't think I'm gonna like it down there." she whispered and Wren jumped slightly, startled to hear her voice so close.

"It was _your_ idea to follow us! Let go of my cape, too!" he growled back in a hushed tone and followed Pepper and Caleb down.

"Keep quiet or the monsters will just have an easier time tracking us." the doll lectured and looked around, "The candle's pushing back as much of the darkness as it can, but visibility is still very poor. Stay close to each other." He grinned suddenly. "Hey, grab a partner and hold hands. I've got Pepper!" Caleb reached out and took hold of the green sash that served as the mana beast's collar, her brass bell tinkling with the movement, "That leaves Ginger with Wren!"

"You did that on purpose!" the chef yelled, "And I'm _not_ holding _her_ hand...! Hey, I said let go!"

--

Pillars and pathways of stone and what seemed like monuments to the Summon Spirit of Darkness lined the trip to the seal, and many of those paths led to dead ends. Each monument they came across was reason enough for Caleb to stop and study it carefully, same as with the glowing crystals from earlier. For the doll, to study something meant to also touch it as much as possible, using sensors built into his fingertips to take temperature readings, bounce nearly inaudible sound waves into it and record the resulting echoes and what might cause different types of echoes, as well as various other things he couldn't quite explain to Wren, Ginger, and Pepper.

Ginger watched in boredom, twisting the end of the Wonder Chef's cape in one hand just to annoy him. She happened to glance at the ring Sheena had loaned her and found it to be softly pulsing with a light of its own. It was faintly violet in color and she dropped the cape end to examine it closer. The light immediately faded to nothing and she blinked, startled. Was the glow something she had just imagined, or did the ring really have special powers granted by the Summon Spirit, Volt?

Ginger eyed the ring warily, then shrugged it off, absently picked up the cape end and twisting it again. The glow returned and she dropped the cloth once more when she noticed it, watching the light snuff out upon release of the cape.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded of the chef. Wren glared back at her irritably.

"Me?! _You're_ the one who keeps tugging at my cape like a security blanket!" he growled as sliced up carrots for stew. Caleb had made a comment on the need for dinner while tracing the markings of one tombstone-like slab. The thought caught Wren by surprise, but the feeling of hunger that finally made itself known to him was reason enough to get cooking. Pepper watched happily, eyes following the carrot coins dropping into the small cauldron for the stew.

"Yummy make good din-din for Candy and Pepper?" she asked and clacked as Wren tossed her a whole carrot for an appetizer.

"That's right. Hey, Caleb, are we _actually_ going to have to spend the night in here?" the chef asked loudly. The doll continued tracing, but paused to listen to him.

"We may as well, it'll take too long to retrace our steps just to reach the exit and I haven't heard much movement in the way of monsters." he finally replied and turned his attention back to the stone, "Though that in itself is a little worrisome." Wren sighed with a shake of his head at the idea and shot Ginger another irritated glare as she continued picking up and letting go of his cape.

"Why do you keep _doing_ that?" he grumbled. The confectioner only lifted a finger to her mouth for silence, a strangely focused look on her face. Whatever it was that was puzzling her about a scrap of red cloth seemed to have nothing to do with him personally, but the ring she was wearing on her hand. Ginger kept looking closely at it each time she played with his cape. He sighed again and returned to cooking, deciding to ignore her in favor of tending to his stew.

--

It was reacting to something in the cape, that much Ginger could figure out on her own. After picking at the end a few more times, she grabbed a fistful of the cloth and watched the light grow just a bit brighter. She raised an eyebrow at this new finding, then dropped the cape. The light faded again to nothing and she scooped up another handful of cloth. Again, a brighter light than the beginning. Ginger let go and studied the ring. Sheena had said it would reduce tensions between her and the Wonder Chef, whatever that meant. It was given to Sheena by Volt. That didn't tell her much else about the ring.

"Give me your cape." Ginger finally said to Wren. He looked back at her incredulously, "Take it off and give it to me." She fidgeted for a bit when he narrowed his eyes at her, then mumbled, "Please?"

"Fine." Wren muttered and worked at the folds around his neck. Removing the hat to keep it safe, the blonde slipped the fabric over his head and held it out to Ginger, "I don't see why you'd want it. My father wore this same cape when he was Wonder Chef."

"Really? But I heard... never mind." the confectioner remarked in surprise. Wren gave her a questioning look and she blushed. "When I was a kid, I was always told stories that the Wonder Chef was a being who lived forever, an ancient cook that wandered the earth and could never die. But considering all that you've been through and stuff, I guess not." she explained. Wren laughed, shaking his head.

"That's probably more junk the Dark Chefs came up with to make us look bad. DuGorge probably also said we horde ingredients and only give them out if people vow to obey our way of cooking or some other nonsense." he added with a shrug. Ginger nodded slowly, then blinked at him. "But in truth, that's what the Dark Chefs do."

"You have a nice laugh." the confectioner remarked suddenly and covered her mouth in shock. Wren cocked his head, gave her a sudden wary expression, then turned back to the cauldron. Ginger shook her head in self-disapproval and picked up the cape, bunching up the cloth and holding the ball of fabric in her hands. She turned the ball to study the ring, blinking in surprise as she found the sardonyx to be dull and unresponsive. Not a bit of light shone out from the stone.

"Ugh! I don't get this!" Ginger grumbled and got up, walking over to Caleb and tapping his shoulder. The doll paused again and looked up at her in confusion.

"What now? Aren't you busy with Wren?" he asked, puzzled. Ginger waved it off in dismissal.

"Bah, let the cook do what he does best; cook. I need some help with this thing." she declared and held out her hand with the ring. "Sheena gave this to me, but it's doing weird things. It was glowing when I was holding Adam's cape, but now it's not." Caleb glared at the stone, then blinked and laughed in relief, shaking his head. "Hey! What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry. I saw the ring on you earlier and I thought... well, nothing really important now. But I see what you mean. The Sardonyx Ring has some interesting side effects to it when worn. Unfortunately, its power only really works when you don't quite understand what it is it does." Caleb explained and looked up at the slab, adjusting his fingertips to stay on the line. "There. I can't really help you there, but I can tell you to trust it and don't think too hard about what it does. Eventually, everything will become clear to you. Relax and take it easy. Go eat or something." Ginger made an irritated sound and went to talk to Pepper.

"Pepper, sweet Pepper!" she cooed and stroked the mana beast's snout, listening to her clack happily, "Can you help me out a bit? I have this magic ring that a friend gave me, but it does funny things when I touch Adam's cape. Do you have any idea what might make it do those things?" Pepper sniffed at the ring and shook her head with a snort.

"Candy magic thing have Volt power. Volt power pull like Gnome but not like Gnome." the mana beast remarked, "Magic thing pull to one. Pull to one and make one. Make same and not same. Two ones pull and make one twos." Ginger stared at her, completely lost. Pepper looked apologetic, ears pulled down as she hunched her shoulders. "Pepper not help? Pepper still little, need help from Guardian to learn." she added meekly.

"No, you helped a little. Thanks a lot. Here, have a candy." Ginger replied hurriedly and with a smile. She slipped Pepper a fruit chew and rubbed her snout as the mana beast gobbled it down with a cheerful clack. She walked back and held out the cape to Wren. "Here. Take it back, it didn't tell me anything." Ginger told the chef in irritation.

"Told you." Wren muttered, reaching out blindly for the fabric. He managed to grab on and Ginger watched in astonishment as the ring glowed softly again. Wren tugged on the cape as he stirred the stew, then glared up at her. "You're _supposed_ to let go." he added and she released the cape, watching the stone fade to darkness again.

"Too strange." she murmured and toyed with the ring, spinning it around her finger as she looked into the cauldron, "Hey, is the soup ready yet?"

"Why not eat your candy for dinner if it's so much better than my recipes?" Wren grumbled but served her a bowl of the stew anyway.

--

Sleeping that night was strange. Ginger stared around herself in constant tension despite being told by Caleb that he would keep watch over the group for the night. She shifted under the blanket and sighed as she looked over at Wren. The chef was fast asleep, wrapped in a blanket of his own with his pack as a pillow and the Wonder Fork on the floor beside him. He looked as if he was used to this, whereas Ginger still couldn't get comfortable on anything other than a bed or mattress.

"This is so _not_ fair. Why can he sleep and I can't?" she muttered and sat up, crawling over to Wren with every intention of pestering him awake, "If I can't sleep than neither can he!" She paused and looked down at the fork that rested on the floor. "This is the thing DuGorge was so gung-ho into getting back into his grip. Caleb said it was made seven thousand years ago and that it has a lot of power in it." she murmured softly. Watching Wren for a moment, Ginger reached down and picked up the fork, original plan dropped in favor of an up-close look at the utensil. Caleb looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head with a grin, confident in the fork's ability to sense its wielder's skill.

Ginger stood up and held the fork out, studying it with a wary eye. It looked far simpler than the ones the Dark Chefs used, and much less dangerous looking than the bladed-end fork DuGorge carried. So what about it was so powerful and so valuable that DuGorge had been willing to kill Wren to get it? She held the fork close as a sudden chill came over her. The first and only time DuGorge ever got it was because of her. If Ginger hadn't found out Wren's schedules for the day, managed to draw his attention off his normal path into that ambush... all the danger he'd been in was _her_ fault....

If he _had_ died, the blood would have been on _her_ hands....

"What are you doing with that?" the chef grumbled sleepily. The confectioner jumped and turned around in surprise. Wren sat up and rubbed at one eye before turning a drowsy glare at her in accusation. "Was that what you were after this whole time? Another chance to steal the Wonder Fork and deliver it to DuGorge?" Ginger blinked back a sudden surge of stinging tears.

"You _jerk_! Is that all you think of me?! You think all I ever do is plot and scheme behind your back to get this stupid thing! _N'est-ce pas?!_" she cried and threw it at him, not caring if Wren actually managed to grab the fork or not, "You insensitive, self-serving, wretched little _pig_!" Caleb and Pepper both twitched and turned narrowed eyes back at the two humans. Wren only stared up at Ginger in surprise. "Do you think that I live to watch you and that idiot DuGorge fight and bicker and try to kill each other over that stupid piece of ancient history?! That I _like_ seeing you get turned into a victim of his crazy plans and experiments?!" she seethed, eyes filling with angry tears, "Well, **fine**! I'll admit it! I get a buzz out of watching him try to mangle you up just so he can get his hard-on out of stealing that stupid piece of junk fork!" Ginger rubbed at her eyes, then ran from the campsite, following the path of stone to a short distance, stopping at the very edge of the blue candle's influence. She sat down and hugged her legs, hiding her face in her knees as she sobbed.

"What did you **do** to her?!" Caleb snapped, storming up to Wren as he climbed to his feet with a startled expression.

"I didn't...!" the chef began to reply and cried in a panic when the doll grabbed his collar and shook him.

"Don't try to push off the blame! What is _wrong_ with you?! Wren, what kind of person are you to just keep abusing that poor woman?!" Caleb yelled angrily, "The whole point of my taking her along was to get you to stop discriminating against former Dark Chef agents!"

"Guardian, stop!" Pepper barked, using her psychic abilities to freeze Caleb's limbs in place. "Guardian do bad to Yummy! Stop!" The doll blinked back at her, the act of being held in place so suddenly enough to snap him out of the near blinding anger. He looked back at Wren, stunned to see the chef looking fearfully up at him, feet barely skimming the floor as he held onto Caleb's arms to support himself.

"Ah...!" Caleb gasped lightly and looked chagrined, "I... I'm sorry, Wren. I didn't think... I wasn't thinking...." Pepper released him and the doll set Wren back down gently, backing away. "I suggest you go apologize to Ginger for all that you've said and done." he finished softly. Wren nodded quickly and walked by cautiously, rubbing at his collar.

--

"Hey." Ginger heard the soft voice call out to her and lifted her head warily.

"Oh, what now?" she growled bitterly, "I'm not well-done enough? Come to roast me some more?"

"No. Just saying sorry." Wren replied with a subdued sigh and sat down by her, "If I was being rude, and I'm pretty sure I was, just say so. I'm sorry for being a jerk." He shrugged helplessly, a small grin on his face. "You seem to be able to bring that out in me."

"Meh, it's a gift." Ginger answered haughtily. She watched him shift around uneasily.

"Discrimination still runs in all of us. I thought I didn't have that problem. I was taught to accept everyone equally, but when it came to Dark Chefs... they are the enemy of the Wonder Organization." Wren muttered, "Even those that reform still don't get quite the same treatment as normal people."

"I'm _not_ a Dark Chef. I quit." Ginger told him with a frown, "So don't lump me with all those other idiots still working for DuGorge." Wren shook his head in confusion, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"That's something I don't get. You were DuGorge's right hand agent, right? Why would you give up all the power that gave you? Why would you abandon all that?" he wondered aloud, pulling out his box of candy. He picked one out and blinked at it with a sudden grimace. "Ick. This stuff is sickening." he muttered.

"I quit because I found out what DuGorge was planning to do with my family's recipes. There's no way he could have gotten those without having tricked me sometime earlier, like when I first joined the Dark Chef Alliance three years ago." Ginger growled, glaring out at the darkness, "And now he's going to use them in a way that candy should never be used!"

Wren studied the almonds as she went on venting her frustration and anger into the pitch black beyond. When he first got the candy, they tasted delicious, though a bit off for some reason. But as he kept eating them, they began losing their appeal. They were lightly roasted, covered in a layer of honey and then dusted with sugar. Wren had thought they were familiar and with Ginger ranting beside him, it dawned on him why. These candies were the same ones she used in her disappearing tricks. He dug into his pocket and pulled out one of the few almonds he still had from their first solo meeting in Triet months before. He compared the two nuts visually, found them both to look exactly alike, then ate the almond from Triet.

It tasted delicious as well, with all the perfection that only a top quality cook, or candy-maker in this case, could pull off. This was Ginger's handiwork, and the reason why Wren couldn't figure out why she had worked for the Dark Chefs. He studied the other candy, then sighed and ate that as well. Almost instantly he could taste a difference in the two candies.

"You didn't make that one!" Wren cried in realization, startling Ginger out of her raving. She jumped up.

"Yow! What?!" she cried. Another yell caught their attention and they turned back to see Caleb and Pepper running towards them in a panic.

"Run! Monsters! They were gathering for a full attack!" the doll wailed and scooped up both chefs as he raced by them, slinging them under his arms as he ran.

"What?! Where?!" Wren yelled and blinked as he watched the mass of moving black figures advancing towards them, "_Dios mio!_ Where's the Wonder Fork?!"

"Pepper's got it! Now don't move around! I can't run at my top speed with you two squirming!" Caleb cried, dashing past more tombstones and down lengthy staircases towards the end of the many levels of the temple.

"And here I thought traveling with you guys was gonna be boring!" Ginger laughed at Wren, "Woooohoooo! Run, run, baby!" She moved her hand and reached for her pouch, bringing out a handful of candy. She picked out several roasted hazelnuts and tossed them in front of the incoming monsters. As the figures passed over the nuts, they detonated on impact, sending hordes of pharaoh knights and druids flying over the edges of the pillars and stairs into bottomless pits beyond the shadows. Wren looked astonished, then turned an excited face towards the confectioner.

"That was awesome! Candy can _do_ that?!" he blurted out, impressed by the display. Ginger nodded proudly.

"**My** candy can!" she replied with a smile.

Caleb dashed onwards and turned down one path, skidding to a halt only moments later when he found it end suddenly into darkness. He gasped softly, then quickly turned back to find a new path. The fork was blocked off by the horde of druids, pharaoh knights and chimeras closing in on the group. The doll uttered a yelp and promptly raced back down the original dead end path.

"This doesn't look good on our end." Wren muttered, "Are we doomed?"

"Probably. It certainly looks that way." Ginger added as she dug through her candy bag, "And I'm out of bomb candies."

"Pepper! _Mana_ _Light_!" Caleb cried out as they stopped at the end of the path once again. The mana beast turned and shrieked, firing the bursts of light into the group of monsters, cutting through them easily.

"Bad things go away! Leave Pepper friends alone!" she demanded, sending additional bursts in rapid fire sequence. A druid cast out a spell of its own, wrapping Pepper in a _Gravity_ _Well_ that threw her off balance and startled her out of her concentration. She yipped painfully as Caleb called out her name and set down the two humans.

"Stop it! _Fireball!_" the doll exclaimed, throwing out his hand as the half-dozen little balls of flame slammed into the druid. Ginger and Wren both stood to face the incoming group of monsters, the confectioner already loading a frozen jelly bean into her spoon to catapult into the crowd. She yelped in surprise as she watched the bean sparkle with electricity, gazing briefly at the ring on her hand in awe. Pepper had dropped the Wonder Fork upon her first yell of anger and Wren snatched it up before anything could knock it over the edge of the dead end. The mana beast shook herself off after the spell ended and resumed firing at the group, this time aiming more for the druids than anyone else.

"Caleb, what can I do to help? There's not enough room here for me to get one of the recipes cooked up!" he exclaimed. The doll looked back at him while summoning up another spell.

"Get on Pepper and get out of the way! Ginger and I can take it from here!" he called back, "Pepper! Get Wren out!" The mana beast stopped her assault and looked over at the chef. Wren shook his head furiously.

"What?! No way! I can help too!" he yelled, "Just 'cause I don't have the ability to whip up something right here, that doesn't mean I'm _completely_ useless!" Ginger grinned back at him as she launched another electrified jelly bean.

"Nah! It means you're totally useless! Go on, little Wonder Chef, and run away! Leave the fighting to the pros!" she laughed. Wren scowled in frustration, mind already racing to the one option he had to prove his own capabilities.

"There's too many of them for just the two of you to handle on your own without Pepper!" he snapped, "Caleb! Let me take care of this! I can get rid of all of them with one attack!" The doll looked back at him in shock.

"Wren! No, you can't use that! The requirements haven't been met!" he cried, casting out _Wind Blade_ to force back the approaching knights, "And we're in close quarters! What will happen to the rest of us if you cast _it_ here?!"

"Force the requirements on me!" Wren yelled, "Both of you get out of here on Pepper! If I'm stranded here on my own, that will fulfill the needs of the spell! Stop treating me like a child and let me make my own choices!" Caleb stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded grimly.

"All right, but you'd better stay alive!" he finally declared and turned to Pepper, "Pepper! Can you carry me and Ginger out of range?!" Pepper looked unsure of herself, stretching her wings out and flapping them uncertainly.

"Two on Pepper back? With stuff? That heavy, but Pepper try. Yummy make bright _FireLight_?" she asked. Caleb nodded. "_FireLight_ pretty and strong. Yummy do good spell. Pepper take Guardian and Candy to safe place. We go!" she declared and bent to allow them to climb on. Caleb got onto the mana beast's back and held out a hand to Ginger.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!" he exclaimed. Ginger glared back at him as she fired another bean.

"Are you _crazy_?! She won't be able to carry all of us out of here! What about Adam?!" she demanded, "Even if he's an insensitive idiot, I'm not going to abandon him to his death!" She yelped again as Wren grabbed, then shoved her towards the doll. "Hey! What the hell is _wrong_ with you?! I defend you for once in your miserable life and this is how you thank me?! _Trahison!_" Ginger snapped at him. She climbed onto the mana beast, face twisted with caged fury and no one to truly vent it on.

"Okay, Pepper. How are you doing?" Caleb asked as the mana beast shifted about uncomfortably.

"More heavy than Pepper like, but Pepper can fly. All ready?" she replied, flapping her wings as the monsters surged forward to finish them off.

"Yes! Go!" Caleb cried as Wren lifted the Wonder Fork and began spinning it with both hands, murmuring to himself again. Pepper leaped out into the shadows, taking the blue candle with her. Ginger shrieked in sudden fear as the darkness swallowed up the blonde chef down below her, along with the druids, chimeras and pharaoh knights that closed in on him.

"Adaaam!" she called out and cried in shock as a dome of brilliant light and fire suddenly erupted from the point where she had last seen the chef, growing and swelling in size as shrieks of fury and horror filled the air. Blinded, Ginger turned away and hugged the doll from behind, sobbing as the mana beast struggled to fly them away from the ever rising explosion of heat and light that filled the lower level of the Temple of Darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

Pepper landed tiredly on the path two levels above the now collapsing dome of fire and light. Caleb sat still and silent for a few moments, listening to the sobs behind him. Despite the knowledge of what had happened, the doll felt his own tears run down his face and quickly wiped them away, reprimanding himself for briefly thinking anything had gone wrong with _Incineration_. Pepper looked glum as she managed to lie down to rest.

"Why? Why did he do something so _stupid_ as to sacrifice himself for us?" Ginger sobbed and slid off, rubbing at her eyes. "After all the mean stuff I said to him too, he probably died thinking I'm a real witch or something!"

"He's not dead." Caleb told her, climbing off of Pepper and patting her side comfortingly, "I'm not sure how he is now, though. This is only the second time I've seen him use that spell." Ginger stiffened and turned on him.

"_Second time?_ He's done this **before**? A spell? What the hell kind of spell does something like **that**?" she yelled out. "Why didn't anyone **warn** me that the Wonder Chef could cast spells?"

"Because he can't. That didn't come from him directly." Caleb shot back in irritation, "I told you before that the Wonder Fork was powerful, didn't I?" The confectioner blinked and gaped at him in shock.

"Are you telling me that big blast came from that stupid little **fork**?" she cried, "How?"

"It's magitechnology, and one of the last surviving pieces of the original technology of the old world." the doll replied simply and began walking down the stairs towards Wren's location. Ginger followed him numbly with Pepper slowly walking after them with the blue candle.

"Magitechnology? That fork is magitechnology?" she mumbled.

* * *

As before in Moria, the portions of the temple that could be seen were covered in the burnt shadows of the dozens of monsters that had plagued the group. Ginger looked all around, mouth open in awe as Caleb peered down each path in hopes of finding the one that would lead him back to his friend. She hadn't expected anything like _that_ to come from such a simple-looking fork. And to think that DuGorge once had that very same power in his hands. If he had learned how to truly wield the Wonder Fork the way the Wonder Chef could...

"This world would fall under Dark Chef rule faster than anyone could ever dream." Ginger murmured in quiet horror.

"Pepper, stretch ahead with your power. Can you pick up Wren anywhere?" Caleb called back softly. The mana beast closed her eyes and reached out with her Ascension abilities, rippling outward in search of the chef.

"Yummy not happy. Yummy... making bad thoughts! Bad Yummy!" Pepper griped as she fluffed up her fur indignantly. "Guardian make Yummy stop stupid thoughts!"

"Stupid thoughts? Like what?" Caleb asked in confusion as the group traveled further down, toward the path that had been where they made their stand.

"Yummy think Pepper get cooked in big pot! Pepper no din-din for stupid Yummy. This bad thought!" the mana beast answered irritably as Caleb smiled in relief. "Pepper eat Yummy hat!"

"What's going on? Is Adam okay or what? Stop making fun of this!" Ginger demanded and dashed forward, "How can you call yourselves his friends if you're not making an effort to find him? I'll do it myself!" Caleb yelped and raced after her as Pepper bounded along, hoping to keep them in the light of the blue candle so as not to have one or the other fall off the stairwell into the depths of the darkness.

"No! Ginger! Wait! Pepper! Where's Wren?" the doll shouted as they descended further towards the dead end path.

"Down where Pepper, Guardian and Candy leave Yummy!" the mana beast called out, "Yummy thinking falling!" Caleb looked back at her in concern.

"What? Why?" he exclaimed as the group turned onto the path where they had been cornered by the monsters.

"_For the love of Martel, __**somebody**__ pull me up!_" Wren's voice shrieked out. Ginger yelped again and the doll came to a skidding halt, eyes wide as he watched the girl run up and kneel by the end of the path. The stone was broken off, as if it had just collapsed for no reason, though in truth the _Incineration_ blast was plenty reason enough for it. Pepper trotted up in confusion as her friends both knelt at the wrecked edge and peered over.

"Wren? What happened?" Caleb asked in disbelief. The blonde glared up at him from where he dangled, gripping the handle of the Wonder Fork with all the strength he had left. The prongs of the fork were shoved into the stone, the only thing supporting him and preventing him from falling completely into the pits of darkness.

"Caleb, I'll tell you all about it over dinner... **after you pull me up!**" he snapped and cringed as the fork bowed a bit further, "Hurry it up!" Ginger lay out on the floor and reached down with an open hand.

"Hang on! Here! Grab my hand! Red! **Do** something!" she cried and stretched towards the chef. Wren shifted to move part of his weight onto the side of the broken column of stone, then carefully allowed one hand to let go of the wooden handle to reach back. Caleb hurried back to Pepper and murmured quickly to her, pulling a length of rope from the pack on her harness, then unhooking the lantern. The mana beast blinked, looked at him uncertainly, then sighed and bobbed her head in agreement.

"Pepper hope this good idea." she muttered as she unfurled her wings, shielded herself with the illusion of darkness and dove over the edge of the column away from the two cooks. Tying the rope around one broken monument, Caleb took the other end of the rope and ran for Ginger.

"I've got a rope to pull him up with!" he exclaimed and suddenly fell as the cord snapped tight and swept him off his feet, "Whoa! It's caught!" Ginger growled irritably as she reached further, straining to grab onto the outstretched hand struggling to get closer.

"Red's about as useful... nngh!... as an inmate's last meal!" she grumbled, completely unaware of the hidden mana beast hovering just below her and the blonde chef. "Push up on the stone! You need more height!"

"If I move any more, the fork will slip free!" Wren growled back and the metal shifted, sending bits of stone and debris into the shadows to prove his point. "I've almost got you, just reach down a little further!" Caleb struggled with the rope, putting on a show of complete ineptness as he raced to get it 'untangled'. He glanced back at the confectioner.

"Hurry up and save him!" he murmured softly, "I can't think of anything else to get you both to change!"

"Why can't you just teleport up here?" Ginger growled as she made a final lunge and grabbed Wren by the wrist. She pulled back and grunted softly as the chef slowly began scaling the stone to safety. Reluctantly, he left the Wonder Fork embedded in the stone and grabbed the edge of the column. With Ginger's help, Wren climbed over and coughed as he collapsed onto the floor in relief. Caleb untangled himself from the rope as Pepper flew back up towards the stairwell for her 'late appearance' in catching up to the group.

"The prongs." Wren finally said as he got up and dusted himself off. He looked first in irritation at Caleb's sudden lack of grace and intelligence, then at Ginger's confused expression. "The Wonder Fork is made of dark aionite and the prongs are the focus of its power. If anything blocks them, I can't make use of it." he explained briefly and returned his attention to the edge of the column, "Speaking of the Wonder Fork, I have to get it loose!" He pulled off the hat and cape he wore to keep them from falling or getting in his way, then lay on his stomach, reaching over the edge in attempts to grab the handle. Ginger peered over at it and shot him an irritated glare.

"Give it up! You're going to fall again trying to get it!" she snapped at him. Wren mirrored the expression, shooting it over his shoulder as he continued stretching for the utensil.

"Go help Caleb. Let **me** worry about my own hide." he grumbled and turned back to the fork, "Come on! Just a little bit further down..." The confectioner scowled, then crawled over to grab his ankles. "Hey! What the heck are you doing?" Wren yelped in shock. He looked back over his shoulder in surprise.

"I'm going to lower you enough to get your stupid fork, then I'm gonna try pulling you back up." Ginger growled between her teeth as she braced her legs to support his weight, "But I'm not strong enough to hold you for long, so make it fast!"

"Okay, down a little." Wren sighed and turned back to the fork, waving his hand towards the utensil. Caleb sat put and watched with a smile on his face. This might actually be working to his advantage. If the doll could help the Sardonyx Ring do its job, both Wren and Ginger would scurry off to do their human thing and Caleb would be left with Pepper to get **really** serious in the archival of the world. He drummed his fingers on the floor, waiting for something to happen.

"_Now?_" Ginger whimpered as Wren snatched the Wonder Fork free from the stone.

"Yes! Got it!" he exclaimed triumphantly and yelped as the utensil suddenly took on an eerie green-black aura, "What the-?"

In a burst of dark energy, both Wren and Ginger disappeared, leaving a very stunned Caleb to stare at the empty space.

* * *

The Dark Chefs trooped through the giant chambers of the Famine Temple, loading crates of candies and chocolates into Elemental Cargos for world-wide shipment. The recipes had been perfected and DuGorge smiled at the idea of so many pieces of his plan falling into place. One cook ran up to him and held out a box of candies.

"Master Chef, these are the specially ordered candies you requested." he told the blue haired chef. DuGorge studied the candies carefully, then smiled.

"Good, very good. Have the shipment of these boxes sent to those 'very special' people." he ordered and laughed, "With them out of the way, this world will be ripe for the picking! All that's left is to reclaim what should have belonged to me!" The messenger bowed and hurried off with the box of sweets. He looked over his shoulder and smiled again as a feminine figure walked up to stand beside him, gazing emotionlessly down at the many hundreds of chefs and cooks carrying crates and boxes of candy from the kitchens to the shipping vehicles.

"Ah, it's so nice to have you join us, my dear. I have heard that twins have an uncanny connection between them. Tell me, dear Eve, where is your brother now?" the Master Chef asked smoothly. Eve gazed down a few minutes longer, then pulled away from the stone-carved balcony.

"Adam is currently sealed in darkness. I feel a turmoil of emotion; surprise, unease, fear, anger, dread." she answered in a dead tone, the Exsphere at the base of her neck shimmering as it subdued her mind. DuGorge raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Darkness? Is he afraid of the dark?" he remarked in confusion.

"He fears the shadows not for himself, but for another who is sealed with him." Eve replied. DuGorge sighed and shook his head.

"I don't have a clue what you mean, but I suppose it's safe to assume he won't be interfering with my plans anytime soon, right?" he asked. Eve nodded. "Good. In the meantime, I want you to join Leo, Sauri and Eula in overseeing the distribution of this candy to the people of Tethe'alla and Sylvarant. Make sure the candy marked with my personal insignia is sent to the rulers of the major cities around Symphonia." he ordered and grinned as Eve bowed and left to obey the orders. "Perfect, perfect! Things are moving as smoothly as honey!" he gloated and walked off with a smug expression, "This will be the end of the Voraci's Wonder Chef Family and the rise of the Dark Chef Alliance!"

* * *

Pepper stood in irritation as she watched Caleb run around on the column, peeking behind monuments, inside tombs, over the edges of the stone pillar and knocking on the floor at random spots. He had yelled for Wren and Ginger, then called for her to come help him find the two cooks. Wondering over what had happened, the mana beast fluttered the rest of the way down the stairs to join the doll and immediately wished she could just bop him on the head too.

"_Wrennn! Ginnngerrrr!_ Where are _youuu_? Come out, come out, wherever you_ arrre_! Wren, this isn't **funny**!" Caleb sang in near hysteria, "Come on, man, I'm supposed to be _protecting_ you! You can't just disappear on me like this! Especially with a _girl_!"

"Guardian look stupid. Why Guardian run like scared rabbit?" Pepper growled in annoyance. The doll was holding his head as if trying to keep it attached to his body.

"Because I lost the Wonder Chef, **that's** why! I don't get it! It looked like he teleported himself and Ginger away, but where to? And why aren't they back?" he wailed, "Sir Estéfan is going to roast me over an open fire if he catches wind of this!" He looked around in a panic. "Wren! Come on! You can't do this to me! If I had a heart, I'd be dead from a heart attack by now!"

Pepper shook her head in exasperation and began sniffing around the stone in search of clues. There were several cracks in the floor that hadn't been there before the bright eruption of the spell _Incineration_, and she assumed that it had damaged enough of the temple's structure to split the stone. That would explain the broken tablets around the pillar and why the Wonder Chef was hanging over the edge of infinity like that. There was also the smell of mana, the same mana as the shadows around them, but far stronger, more potent. It seemed to be thickest at the edge where Caleb had said the two humans had been when they vanished.

"Shadow power here." Pepper finally announced and turned back to see Caleb pounding on his head in chagrin. "Guardian! Shadow power here!"

"What?" the doll finally asked, blinking at her in surprise. The mana beast nodded towards the edge.

"Shadow power strong here. Maybe Shadow take Yummy and Candy?" she questioned. Caleb looked confused, folding his arms over his chest as he cocked his head in thought.

"Why? Summon Spirits need food about as much I do. What would Shadow want with two human cooks?" he murmured and picked up the lantern. "Thanks for snapping me out of my panicked state, Pepper. I wasn't thinking clearly." He reattached the lantern to Pepper's harness and unrolled the hand-drawn map of the temple that Zelos Wilder had loaned him. "According to these black zig-zags and that purple-black squiggly thing there, Shadow's seal is only two levels away." Caleb deduced and sighed in exasperation, "Idiot Zelos, did he _have_ to doodle this out like a five-year-old with a box of crayons?"

"Why Shadow want Yummy and Candy?" the mana beast asked in confusion as Caleb rolled up the parchment, grabbed Wren's belongings and began walking towards the next set of stairs.

"Dunno, but can you search ahead and see if they really are down there? I don't want to be sent on a wild goose chase." he returned. Pepper nodded and stretched out her power, then shook her head in surprise.

"Pepper can't see. Shadow power blocking all. Shadow feel... mad..." she replied in worry, "Pepper no like Shadow mad. Shadow have much power, more power than Pepper. Shadow Dark; Pepper Light. Shadow hurt Pepper much with power if Pepper get hit."

"He's not going to hurt you or anyone!" Caleb told her firmly and pressed on with grim determination, "We're going to see Shadow and demand to know what he did with our friends!"

* * *

The first thought Ginger had upon returning to awareness was of what a strange dream she had just had. Some of her mental fog lifted and she could feel someone shaking her shoulder and calling her name. The voice was familiar, and yet strange as well. She groaned and made a weak attempt at slapping the hand away from her. Ginger was preferring the numbness over fully awakening and facing whatever it was that was now wrong with her world.

"Ginger, wake up. We're in a bit of a situation here and I can't leave you to dreamland." the voice urged gently.

"Yesh, ya can. Beat it, Wonder Boy." Ginger slurred, finally recognizing the voice. She frowned in her grogginess as she strained her hearing at the response. Was that idiot _laughing_? The confectioner struggled to sit up and rubbed her head, slowly climbing out of the heavy fog that tried to pull her mind down again. "What the hell is so funny?" she demanded grumpily, a bleary expression on her face as she searched around for the source of the laughter. Wren knelt beside her, shaking his head as he continued chuckling.

"I was worried about you for a bit." he explained with a smile, "It's been so long since you called me Wonder Boy, I thought you might have hit your head on something." Ginger blinked and uttered an annoyed growl as she shook herself back to full awareness. "By the way, thanks a lot for helping me."

"Excuse me?" the confectioner asked in suspicion. Wren shrugged, still smiling at her cheerfully.

"When you pulled me up from the edge of that pillar, then helped me get the Wonder Fork back. I never got the chance to thank you for it." he replied. Ginger gave him a strange look.

"Uh, you're welcome?" she stammered and folded her arms over her chest, clearing her throat to hide the prior uncertainty, "So, where are we? Where'd you teleport us?" The blonde stopped smiling abruptly, sitting back with a deeply concerned expression instead.

"I don't know. I didn't do anything. Look around us." he told her and waved a hand around. Ginger finally turned her eyes to her surroundings, eyes going wide at the bleak world around them. The earth was cold and dead, hard and cracked from drought; the trees and plants of the ghost forest around them were shriveled and wilted, blackened wood with leafless branches clawing at a dark sky, churning with thunderclouds that promised no rain; a thick gray fog sat on the earth, masking all possible escapes from the hellish land. "I don't know this place. Someone else took control of the Wonder Fork and used it to send us here."

"That's possible?" Ginger asked incredulously, standing up to try getting her own bearings. There were no familiar landmarks, nothing recognizable they could use to find a way back to the Temple of Darkness. She turned in a circle, then sighed, hugging herself as she looked back at the chef, who was studying the ground in confusion, tapping it with his fingertips. "I don't like this place. It's creepy!" Ginger finally whimpered, "There's nothing alive here except us! Where's Caleb and Pepper? Why aren't they here with us?" Wren didn't answer, too intent on his examination of the earth. Ginger frowned. "You don't look worried."

"No point in it." Wren replied and stood up to knock on a nearby tree, a strangely focused look on his face.

"You're used to having an outside force beyond your control just yank you right out of familiar surroundings into a place devoid of life for the purpose of scaring the holy hell out of you?" Ginger asked sarcastically. The chef stopped and looked back at her, expressionless.

"Yes."


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5

The Temple of Darkness, once built to honor the Summon Spirit of Darkness and serve as his abode, was the seal where Shadow had been trapped to play his role in Mithos' World Prolongation Plan, and after being 'freed' from his pact it continued to be his home. It was, after all, the perfect place for him. It was set high on a mountain, away from people; it was full of monsters from Mithos' deranged creations and they kept out the nosier people; and it was pitch black inside, which Shadow loved beyond all else. Very few of the stronger and smarter humans, half-elves, and elves actually made it through all the deterrents to him, and if they were after a pact, well, Shadow sent them packing. He didn't want another pact yet; he still operated under Sheena's vow. Who cares if she told them they could go free and everyone _pretended_ to go along with it? The Summon Spirits were smarter than that. They couldn't be free of their pacts until either Sheena screwed up bad like Mithos, or she up and died.

Either way, Shadow had seen past the vow she had made to identify something the other Spirits had yet to discover. It was a familial pact; binding to the bloodline. Even if Sheena died, even if another summoner came to make pacts with them, they would follow along as normal until a descendant of Sheena came along. Then they'd test that person for Sheena's pact. If they matched, the Spirits would switch over. If not, oh well. Better luck next time.

So in waiting for something to happen, Shadow returned to his temple and resumed his sleep, waking now and then to be sure all was still right with the world. Only this time, _this_ time, something else woke him up. And rather rudely too!

An explosion of some kind, a familiar one, tore through the Temple of Darkness, shredding a good number of the monsters and blasting parts of the structure into nothingness. The overwhelming amount of light and fire mana was enough to jar Shadow awake in a nasty mood. He knew that spell, knew who created it and cast it once before in this same temple, knew the amount of raging and ranting he'd gone through with the caster of that spell to get her to knock it off; and also knew what became of that spell after both caster and husband disappeared into the mist of time and history.

Some idiot Wonder Chef had just decided to wander into Shadow's private retreat of a temple and start the whole mess over again.

He used the shadows, the darkness, to seek out the source of that annoying spell. It was in the fork, of course, and that was wedged in the stone of one of the pillars supporting the hundreds of stairs. Now, who was it that wielded that fork? There were four life forms out there, one of them a mana beast. Shadow frowned slightly; Ascension class. One of Luna's brainiacs, joy. One was a female human, one a male human, though Shadow had to check it a few times to be sure of it; the last was strange. It _felt_ alive, but it didn't seem to match with human mana. It seemed more like it was blending into the surrounding mana, drawing off of it to live. Like a walking Exsphere of sorts.

Lovely.

Shadow waited a bit longer, growing sleepy again but still in a wretched enough mindset to do something about the blockhead that set off _Incineration_. He waited, then felt one of the humans grab the fork. He grinned, flicked a finger, and let the darkness take control of the utensil's power for a brief moment. He sent them into a shadow world, a small one he had made in his spare time, nothing too fancy or scary like the Books of the Underworld, but enough to hold the Wonder Chef in place until he could figure out what to say to the kid about the rules of his temple. There, it was done. Shadow looked at the book in his hand and yawned. That should do it. He'd take a short nap, check out the damage to his temple later, then figure out what to do with the chef.

It just wouldn't do to have one of **her** descendants running around and making mischief.

* * *

The nap didn't take long. Shadow woke again to the sounds of voices and footsteps. It wasn't a summoner, so he didn't have to make an appearance, but they were the companions to the chef, so maybe he could get answers from them. He pulled out of the magic of the seal and formed, watching with a bit of relief as a red-haired man in green clothes and the Ascension mana beast entered the circular chamber with a blue candle. It was a light that Shadow could tolerate easily, breaching his darkness without actually giving him a headache.

"No, if you want to refer to yourself, say 'I'. 'I want an apple.'" the man was telling the beast. Shadow looked momentarily puzzled by that comment. What was this nut doing?

"But Pepper want apple." the beast replied.

"That's referring to yourself in the third person. You have to learn to go first person. There are different ways. 'I want an apple. The apple is for me. The apple is mine.' They all have various ways of pertaining to you as an individual but for different situations."

"Guardian confusing Pepper."

"Noooo, what am I doing? Try again."

"Um? Guardian confusing... me?"

"That's right! Good girl! Now you can have an apple!"

Shadow shook his head incredulously at the sight of a man teaching a mana beast to speak with proper grammar. The only mana beast the Spirit knew of who could speak at all was Orator, Martel's mana beast companion. Now here was another, and a child at that!

_"Ridiculous."_ he muttered, catching the attentions of both creatures. The redhead looked familiar, wasn't he that idiot following Sheena around with wandering hands?

"Ah! Shadow! I need to speak with you!" the man declared and spread his arms open in a show of peace, "I am Caleb, the automated doll built by Master Altessa to archive the world's knowledge and history! I want to speak with you about my friends, whom you have taken by magic!"

_"The chef?"_ Shadow questioned unnecessarily. Caleb nodded as the mana beast sat down beside him, a confused expression on her face.

"Yes! Both of them!" Caleb answered and Shadow looked just as puzzled as the mana beast. He'd taken only the Wonder Chef, hadn't he? It seemed hazy, he was only half-awake at the time. "I wish to know why you've taken Wren and Ginger away. Maybe I can do something to make up for whatever it is they've done to displease you."

_"_Incineration_ forbidden."_ Shadow finally replied with a frown, _"Too powerful to use here."_

"The spell Wren used? How do you know about it?" Caleb asked in surprise. Shadow shook his head and motioned for the doll to sit down. He obeyed, looking up at the Spirit expectantly.

_"Kartha came long ago. Searching for Bane of Abundance. Mistaken identity. Used _Incineration_, brought down majority of temple."_ Shadow hissed out carefully. This was more talking than he was used to, and languages were tough to work with. Half the time he wasn't sure which language was the most widely understood. _"I saved Kartha and companions. Kartha promised. No _Incineration_."_

"Okay, let me see if I understand this correctly." Caleb murmured, "Seven thousand years ago, Kartha and her companions entered this temple in search of the Famine Lord. They confused you with it somehow and Kartha used _Incineration_ to blast you. The spell brought down a large portion of the infrastructure and you had to rescue the group before they were killed. In exchange for the help, Kartha promised not to use _Incineration_ in your temple ever again." Shadow nodded. At least this one caught on quick. "All right. But Kartha is long gone. Her promise died with her, right? Why hold it against Wren when the only connection between them is the spell, not the promise?"

_"Wren?"_

"Ah, sorry. I call him Wren, but the Wonder Chef's name is Adam Voraci." Caleb explained, "He's the fourth Wonder Chef of the Voraci Family and currently in search of a new heir, whether by a new family or by descent." Shadow nodded in understanding.

_"Voraci descended; promise remains intact."_ he agreed. Caleb raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? Shadow, that rumor doesn't work. The Wonder Chef claims he descended from Eru, not Kartha. The Organization knows that he doesn't really descend from anyone; Eru's bloodline is dead." the doll informed the Spirit. Shadow shook his head furiously.

_"Voraci descended; promise remains intact. No _Incineration_."_ he insisted. Okay, maybe he spoke too soon about the doll getting it fast. Caleb scratched his head.

"No, that doesn't compute. The Wonder Chef claims to be from Eru's family, though that isn't the case. Kartha is a half-elf mage. Her bloodline vanished as well. Why would a promise made by a half-elf be binding to a human who has no familial ties to either Eru or Kartha?" he muttered and yelped when Shadow rapped on his head. "Hey! What was that for?" he yelled angrily, "I'm trying to sort this out!"

_"Kartha's bloodline goes on; Eru's bloodline goes on."_ the Spirit told him firmly, _"Voraci descendants; promise remains intact."_

"Okay, that makes no sense, but fine. Whatever." Caleb growled, "Anyway, where are they? Where are Wren and Ginger?" Shadow snorted and held out a small gray book. Caleb blinked at it. "What's that?" he asked. The Spirit opened the book and Caleb gaped at the tiny world moving on the pages. There they were! Tiny, flat images of the Wonder Chef and former Dark Chef were moving on the ever-changing landscape trapped inside the book. "How did you-?"

_"Trade secret."_ Shadow returned with a tone that sounded as if he was smiling smugly. He closed the book and returned it to the darkness, _"Voraci in Time Out. I speak with him later."_

"Then you'll let them out?" Caleb asked. Shadow shrugged.

_"Maybe yes, maybe no. Depends on him. Apologize and restate promise, he goes with girl. Fail, he stays until he finds out why."_ the Spirit answered. He looked at Caleb as if for the first time suddenly. _"Why are you here?"_

"Uh, I'm archiving the knowledge of the world and I thought I'd collect data about the Summon Spirit Seals. I was planning on doing that here. I haven't run into any Summon Spirits at the other seals. You're the first I've met since the day I helped Orator come back to life." the doll replied uncertainly.

_"Am I last?"_

"No, the Temple of Ice is the last seal I'm going to search. Why?" Caleb answered in a puzzled tone. Shadow tapped a finger against his cheek thoughtfully.

_"Fire and light; ice and darkness. This may be useful."_ he mused and pointed at the doll, _"Go to Celsius. Ask for training. You have strange mana, use to learn ice magic."_ Caleb looked startled.

"And abandon Wren and Ginger here? What for? What do I need ice magic for? I have _Icicle_ already!" the doll protested.

_"Too weak. You are too weak. To archive world, you must be strong."_ Shadow pointed out, ignoring Caleb's pained wince at the words.

"But I'm a doll; my strength and stamina is equal to an angel's. How can I be weak when I have those qualities?" he protested.

_"You rely on physical too much. Use all within you to help the world."_ the Spirit told him and waved at him, _"Go to Celsius. Tell her of _Incineration_ and ask for training. Then return. I finish her work and grant you new spell."_

"A spell combining ice and darkness? I've never heard of such a thing." Caleb mused and sighed, bowing. "All right. I'll go. Please take care of my friends. I swore to protect Wren, and I've extended the promise to Ginger as well." He turned to Pepper. "Come on, Pepper. Let's go to the Temple of Ice and get that ice magic training. If I also archive the temple at the same time, I'll get everything done in one swoop." Caleb grinned. "Then I can go to Derris-Kharlan that much sooner!"

"Guardian leave Yummy and Candy behind? What about friends?" Pepper murmured sadly. "No more goodies for... me?"

"At least you're learning proper usage. Now I have to teach you proper names." the doll sighed, "And I'm afraid we don't have much choice. Shadow is holding them until he finds a way to talk with Wren without freaking him out so they can deal with this _Incineration_ problem."

"Bad cooks hurt Yummy here?"

"I doubt it. Shadow, have any of the Dark Chefs shown up here?" Caleb asked the Spirit. He shook his head. "How about Wonder Cooks? Some of them are starting to turn against the Wonder Chef."

_"No one without proper knowledge may enter. Friends safe. Learn magic, then return; only then I release, with or without promise."_ Shadow returned.

"All right, then it's settled. And for the record, I promise to remind Wren not to use that spell in here. Now we need Wren to add his own promise." the doll agreed and climbed onto Pepper's back, "Let's go, Pepper! To Flanoir!" Shadow watched as the mana beast took to the air and soared up the vast darkness to the main body of the temple. If all went well, the Spirits of Ice and Darkness would bestow a spell that would equal the power of _Incineration_, and hopefully cancel it out if it were cast in a place it shouldn't be.

* * *

In the Famine Temple, the Dark Chefs not loading candy onto barges and ships were gathering in the main hall, wary of the onyx black coffin chained to the wall behind DuGorge. It held the spirit, Famine Lord, an entity that escaped once and was immediately resealed by the Wonder Chef more than a year ago. It was then that the Alliance first met with Caleb, the doll that now was associated with the blonde as easily as the Wonder Fork. DuGorge no longer cared about the spirit in the coffin; it was off-limits without the fork to act as the key anyway.

"Ah, good to see you all here." the Master Chef purred and smiled brightly as he held out a hand to the recently returned young woman beside him, "I'm sure you're all acquainted with the Wonder Chef's twin sister here. With a special Exsphere and Key Crest on, she's now under my power and completely obedient to my will." The chefs murmured amongst themselves, then quieted as DuGorge lifted his hands for silence. "Now, although she obeys my every command, she is still unable to give us the Ultimate Recipe. That's not a problem, yet. It's to be expected, she's not the Wonder Chef; her brother is." he went on. His smile grew wider. "However, as things stand now, we have the perfect opportunity to claim everything in one full assault. The candies are on their way to every shop and restaurant in the world; the special treats are being sent to the ones who could pose a threat publicly and to the rulers of each major country and city; plus the seeds of revolution are sprouting nicely in the Wonder Organization from what Eve here reports." The other chefs and cooks chattered among themselves in surprise and pleasure.

"That is true, Master Chef, but what did you mean by an assault? Our battles have always been in the shadows of knowledge. The people barely know what's going on and their knowledge is limited to what it is the Wonder Chef does while wandering around." one of them called out in confusion. DuGorge wagged a finger at the group with a chuckle.

"Yes, yes. I'm glad you pointed that out. Let me tell you what I mean." he answered and held up his fork, the blue handle glinting in the light of the torches that surrounded the chamber. "Our battles have been in secret because the Wonder Organization feared retribution from the leaders of Cruxis! If talk spread about us, the Dark Chef Alliance, then they would turn to talk of the Wonder Chef, then the Wonder Organization. Eventually, people would begin to question the natures of the worlds and the world regeneration myths! And Cruxis would unleash their wrath upon both groups to silence the threat." The Dark Chefs nodded their heads in agreement, though a few looked a bit sick at the thought. "Now Cruxis is gone, thanks in part to Lloyd and his friends, so we are free to battle openly. Yet, we do not. Why?" The chamber remained silent as the cooks looked at each other questioningly. DuGorge slammed the fork onto the table before him. Everyone but Eve jumped in a startled mass. "Well?"

"Because we've always done it this way?" Sauri answered hesitantly, also back from her prior mission of overseeing shipments of candy.

"Because there was no need to change a tactic that has worked for hundreds of years?" another chef offered. DuGorge shook his head furiously and glared at the army of hundreds of cooks.

"No! Wrong! All of you! We don't battle in the open because the Wonder Organization refuses to _meet_ us in the open! And they refuse because they **fear** us! They are weak and dying from stagnation! They reuse old recipes and never change from their old ways! This world is starving for our unique gourmet dishes and as such should have us as rightful rulers!" the blue-haired chef declared forcefully, "The populace can barely cook for themselves! Eru held power because of his renowned skills, skills that we are now on the verge of possessing! With the power granted us by our mastery of cooking, we will take Symphonia by right for rule! The people will eat what we give them and work for every mouthful of high-class delights! This is the destiny Eru created for us!"

"That doesn't tell us what you mean by an assault." Sauri pointed out and winced at the pointed glare shot her way.

"I was getting to it!" DuGorge snapped and turned back to the cooks, "Now, the Organization is dying; the last Wonder Chef is due for banishment, execution, or whatever it is they do with them now. They have **lost** Eru's blessing! _This_ is the opportunity my ancestors dreamt of since their exile from the Organization!" He raised the fork again. "No more hiding in the shadows! No more keeping our war a secret! This time, we attack them directly! Eve will show us the path to the Wonder Organization's headquarters and we will roast them in the fires of revolution! We will take the world by storm as their heroes and leaders die on their feet, completely unopposed! Not even the Wonder Chefs of past and present combined can stop us!" DuGorge smiled and shrugged, "Assuming they can be resurrected for such a thing, of course. But I really doubt that."

The cooks erupted in shock and looked at each other for signs that this couldn't be real. A siege on the Wonder Organization? Now? The Alliance had always assumed that the war would end with the taking of both the Wonder Fork and the Ultimate Recipe, and even then the worst that would happen during the clash would be the death of the opposing side's leader. This was insanity! This was a tidal wave being hurled against a mountain in hopes of tearing it apart like a sand dune! The casualties it would mount! The destruction it would cause! The mess it would make! Had DuGorge finally lost his mind?

"Of course, attacking now would be a waste of resources. We don't have the ingredients and manpower to tear down the Organization's headquarters at the moment, but we have plenty of time to train and collect those resources. According to Eve, we outnumber the Wonder Cooks six to one. And a third of those cooks aren't even on the side of the Wonder Chef any longer. We might even pick up some defectors in the coming assault." DuGorge assured the cooks smoothly, "So we shouldn't have any problems with the attack. The time for it will come once all the candies have been delivered. Another few months and everything should be set." He looked back at Eve. "In the meantime, I'll be sending our new agent back to her home to keep the Organization running in circles. Who knows? Maybe she can bring her brother in for the same treatment and I'll get the two main prizes in this family feud without a fight!"

"Hail the DuGorge Family! Hail the Dark Chef Alliance, heirs to the Tanreht Destiny!" the Dark Chefs cheered, throwing up their hats at the brilliant plan. So DuGorge hadn't gone insane after all; he had just been waiting for opportunity to present itself!

Eve nodded at her new orders and headed back to the dragon pens. Her mission was clear; maintain appearances in the Organization so her family didn't catch onto what was happening and sabotage the security placed on the headquarters so the Dark Chefs could gain access that much more easily.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

Ginger sighed as she watched Wren make another pair of sandwiches. She'd lost track of time since they were transported and every attempt to teleport out with the Wonder Fork failed miserably. She toyed with her ring, thinking back to the bright light that flickered to life in the stone when she was helping the blonde get the fork back. It was dull now, lifeless, like everything around her. Ginger accepted the lunch made for her and sighed again as she watched Wren bite into his own sandwich.

"So we can't get back to the temple from here, wherever here is. Why aren't you panicked or anything? I'd have thought you'd be hysterical by now." she finally said. The chef shrugged.

"Because panicking here won't do any good. So far nothing's attacked us; I have enough food to keep us fed for another few days; and I'm positive that Caleb is working on a way to save us." he answered calmly and looked around. "Although, this place is really weird. I feel strange here. Like there's something missing, but I can't put my finger on it." Ginger gobbled down her sandwich and reached for her canteen of water. Wren claimed they'd been stuck for two days, though how he could tell without a sun or moon to help was beyond her. She sipped at her water, conserving it for later.

She'd been wrong about him. Upon first entry in this strange land without Caleb and Pepper to act as the main line of attack and defense, Ginger had honestly thought Wren would fall to pieces. Instead, the chef maintained a calm demeanor and proceeded to carefully examine his surroundings and options. This was different. Was it possible that his personality changed when around the doll to keep Caleb close by? Startling Wren when the doll was nearby usually resulted in the blonde running for Caleb in a panic, followed by a lot of yelling at her once he realized she was the one who spooked him. Ginger had waited until she was sure Wren was intent on studying some patch of dirt nearby, then snapped a twig right behind him. The next thing she knew, she was staring at a bent and withered black fern where the Wonder Chef had once been.

_"Don't do that."_ his disembodied voice growled in irritation. The fern rustled and Ginger blinked at it, jumping back when it exploded in white smoke, revealing the blonde in a defensive crouch, ready to jump back and away from her. "Why do you keep trying to scare me like that? It's annoying!" he had grumbled as he stood and dusted himself off. Instead of running into the woods, screaming, the young man camouflaged himself, preparing for either flight or fight, depending on what he decided was best for the situation.

She smiled suddenly, watching him polish the prongs of the fork with a soft white cloth. Without Caleb around to poke fun at the both of them, Ginger could actually start enjoying being there... with him. Sure he was still an idiot when it came to candy, staring at her when she offered him a treat called a ginger snap. It was a spicy cookie made with the herb she'd been named after, but he cracked some joke about her with it and she just had to hit him.

He was sore for a while over it, but returned to pondering the situation soon after, wounded ego forgotten.

"So, when was it that you were in a situation like this?" Ginger suddenly asked. Wren stopped polishing, color fading from his face for a moment. She looked worried. Had it been something _that_ bad? "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I just don't like thinking about that time." Wren answered and closed his eyes, shaking his head as the color returned slowly. "It wasn't fun."

"Must have been pretty bad, you almost turned white." Ginger murmured, leaning towards him in concern, "Did something happen to you then? Did you have friends with you?" Wren shook his head and shot her a warning look.

"Look, don't worry about it. It was something that happened long ago. It's part of the risks of being a Wonder Chef. I really shouldn't let it get to me, but it isn't something anyone can just forget, even with a strong enough knock to the head that wipes out all other memories." he growled and went back to polishing, "I was young, stupid, and cocky. I should have known better at the time, but I was never a patient person when it came to taking action." Ginger sat closer, thinking carefully.

"Did someone hurt you for something you did?" she asked slowly.

"No."

"Were you kidnapped by someone you knew who had a vendetta?"

"No."

"Then by a stranger who didn't like your cooking?"

"No! Look, leave it alone! Leave _me_ alone! I don't want to talk about it!" Wren snapped at her. Ginger gave him a droll expression.

"Okay, then were you raped or something?" she asked and the chef seemed to explode.

"NO! Dammit, what sick things are going _on_ in your head? _Nothing_ happened to me! I got stuck in a place I wasn't supposed to be at and I got back fine! That's **it**! Leave me alone!" he shrieked and stormed off into the mist. "Don't follow me!" Ginger sighed as he left the campground, then turned to searching his pack. Perhaps something in there was a clue to what was wrong with him this time.

There was a golden disk that was a little larger than the palm of her hand. She worked at it with her fingernail, trying to open the tiny seam. When she couldn't open it, she set it aside and pulled out a small portrait of an elderly woman with a frying pan in one hand. Ginger blinked, this was the Legendary Frying Pan she'd heard about as a child. It was a rumor that the Ultimate Recipe could only be made in the Legendary Frying Pan, using the Legendary Ingredients. No one had been able to locate the pan, though the ingredients could be found in Asgard. Ginger set the miniature aside and moved aside spare clothes, shoes and toiletries. There was a small recipe book with a slip of paper wedged between the pages buried under the tightly rolled blanket at the bottom of the pack. She pulled it free and opened the book, reading the paper within.

"What? This is... angelic language?" she murmured and jumped at the answer behind her.

"No. That's elven language." Wren replied tonelessly. Ginger looked over her shoulder at the chef standing just behind her, arms folded over his chest. "I don't believe you. I leave for only a few minutes and already you're spying on my personal life. Again."

"I didn't see you come back. How-?" Ginger stammered and Wren spun a finger in the air.

"This world is a loop. Walk in any direction and you'll eventually come back here. This is not part of Symphonia. We were placed in a contained world." he replied and held out a hand. "Now, give that back to me." Ginger looked chagrined as she placed the book and paper in his open hand.

"Can you tell me what it says?" she asked quietly.

"'_You're still you, no matter what the Council says. You are not one of them._'" Wren told her softly, "My mother wrote it for me. I carry it around for self-assurance."

"Your mother knows how to write in elven?" Ginger asked in surprise, "Is she a priestess from the Church of Martel? Or an elf?" Wren glared at her.

"Neither. And if my mother was an elf, then that would make me a half-elf! I'm not a half-elf!" he growled and turned his head, sweeping aside the blonde hair to show off his ear, "See? I'm human!" Ginger shrugged helplessly.

"I'm sorry..." she began.

"Would you have killed me if I _was_ a half-elf?" Wren demanded, "You're from Ozette, a village that despises half-elves to the point of sickening the world; would you have run a butterknife through my heart if I happened to be a half-elf?" Ginger shook her head, eyes wide with shock. "Then stop the discrimination! Stop treating half-elves as less than alive! And stop looking at me as if I need pity for what they did!" He clamped his mouth shut in surprise and stepped back quickly. "I didn't say that." he blurted. Ginger narrowed her eyes and stood to face him.

"What did half-elves do to you?" she questioned in a growl, "Why do you need to carry a paper telling you that you're still yourself? Who's the _'them'_ your mother wrote about?" Wren shook his head and put his hands over his ears.

"I'm not saying anything more about this! This conversation is _over_! There's nothing to talk about!" he yelled and sat down, shutting himself away from the confectioner. Ginger gazed sadly down at him.

"What happened to hurt you like this? To make you doubt your identity?" she whispered softly.

* * *

"Too cold! I hate it!" Pepper growled in irritation. It had taken a total of five days for Caleb and the mana beast to arrive outside the frozen ice caves that was home to Celsius. Caleb smiled apologetically and pet her on the snout.

"I know, but we have to go in and see Celsius. Shadow said so." he replied and trudged through the snow towards the cave entrance. Pepper followed with a sigh.

"Why Guardian have to see Celsius anyway?" she muttered. Caleb shook his head and she sighed again. "Sorry. Why _Caleb_ have to see Celsius?" she amended.

"Because Shadow said he'll let Wren and Ginger go if I learn ice magic from Celsius. Didn't you pay attention to what he was saying?" the doll replied, petting her again for a reward.

"Peh. Caleb already have plenty strong magic. Caleb has me! My magic strongest of all! Shadow just being stupid-head!" Pepper declared as they entered the cave. She looked around and whimpered. "It really cold in here. My fur not helping like me thought."

"Like '**I'**thought. Be careful with your grammar." the doll corrected softly, holding a piece of orange out for her to munch on for a treat. He then looked around in amazement at the interior of the ice cavern. "Wow." The caverns seemed to shimmer, the walls and ceiling looked as if cut out of the interior of a gigantic diamond. Huge icicles hung from far overhead, dripping water that re-froze in midair onto shards of ice embedded in the ground. Caleb walked up to one and studied it carefully before taking a small pick from his tool pack and chipping at the ice. Pepper trotted up by him and blinked in confusion.

"What Caleb doing?" she whispered and huddled as she heard the sounds of cracking ice around her. Her head twisted back and forth as she searched for the source of the sound, then returned to watching the doll. Caleb picked away at the ice, smiling as something small and white came free into his open hand.

"Got it. Looks like a Bigfoot's claw." he murmured and pocketed it. He stood and motioned for Pepper to follow him. They walked along the ice bridge, gazing over the edge down at a door left open in the cave below them. Caleb contemplated having Pepper fly him down to see if Celsius was there, but his explorer's sense won over him and he decided to search the caves for other artifacts. A pack of lobos leaped out from one small cave to confront them as they made their way down to the frozen lake.

"Back off! I roast monsters good if monsters no leave!" Pepper growled, stalking forward with her teeth bared. The lobos pressed closer, trying to intimidate her with their numbers. Caleb fell into spell-casting pose, mana circle spinning beneath him as he murmured the incantation for _Fireball_. Pepper glanced back at him, smiled, then turned back to the beasts. "Or maybe Caleb roast monsters first? Want see who goes first?"

"_Fireball!_" the doll cried, slamming his open palm forward as the dozen or so balls of flame hurtled towards the lobos, scattering them in painful yelps as the fire made contact. Pepper cheered and took a deep breath, unleashing a stream of fire after their tails as she breathed out. Caleb watched part of the cavern melt with the heat and blinked. "Pepper! Stop!" he cried and ran up to the melting portion.

"I do bad?" Pepper asked worriedly. Caleb shook his head, bending over to study one stalagmite carefully.

"No, you did good. You just brought something to my attention. Hmm, interesting. This ice is melting, and it's turning into a white mist that sinks to the floor. This ice on the wall is also melting, but it's turning into water. What's the difference between the two kinds of ice?" he murmured and reached down to pass his fingertips through the mist. A few seconds of taking readings gave him an unusual answer. "Hmm, this is a gas. It's a heavy gas. Is there a way of freezing a gas into a solid without relying on Celsius' power?" Caleb mused with a smile. If there was a way to make use of this new knowledge to benefit the world, what a step for science's comeback that would make!

"Caleb. What about Celsius?" Pepper asked and jumped at the sound of another loud crack in the ice. The doll sighed regretfully and stood up.

"That's right. Saving Wren and Ginger comes first. I wish I could take a sample with me and show it to Raine. I bet the two of us researching this ice together could come up with a whole list of practical uses!" he remarked and continued towards the lake. He pulled out the drawn map of the Temple of Ice and nodded slowly as he picked out the relevant details and sketches, ignoring the scribble that represented a frozen Kratos in the corner of the parchment. "According to Zelos' map, Celsius is in the cave on the other side of the lake. Can you fly us over, Pepper?" he asked. The mana beast nodded and bent to let him climb on before spreading her wings and soaring over the vast lake of ice.

Celsius' chamber was even colder than the rest of the cave. Caleb hugged himself, tested his limbs to be sure his parts still moved fluidly, then looked worriedly at Pepper. The mana beast sneezed and looked miserable, whimpering softly as the doll stroked her snout. He reassured her for a bit, then walked up to the seal.

"Disciple of everlasting ice! Celsius! I have a request for you from Shadow, the Summon Spirit of Darkness!" he called out, spreading his arms open again, "I am Caleb, an automated doll built by Master Altessa to archive the knowledge and history of this world!" Shafts of ice suddenly burst through the floor before him, collecting in a huge mass of frozen spears that exploded into hundreds of tiny shards. In the aftermath of the explosion was a svelte woman in fighter's clothes, head cocked almost bird-like as she studied the doll with frost-blue eyes.

_"I am Celsius, one who is bound to Sheena. What do you want?"_ she asked icily, shifting her weight to one leg. Caleb bowed respectfully.

"I was sent by Shadow to get training from you on the use of ice magic. I need to learn all I can in order to save my friends." he answered. Celsius folded her arms over her chest, frowning.

_"I don't understand this. Explain. What does your problem with Shadow have to do with me?"_ she demanded. Caleb sighed and told her the situation with the Summon Spirit, the promise that had been broken, the spell _Incineration_, and his two friends, the Wonder Chef and Ginger. Celsius listened carefully, casting a glance over once at Pepper, who had given in to the cold and started a fire in a corner of the chamber to keep herself warm. _"I see. I'm glad you didn't bring Voraci here, then. _Incineration_ would have brought everything down on me."_ she finally remarked. Caleb shook his head in confusion, spreading his hands helplessly.

"I don't get this. Why do you and Shadow have such a thing against _Incineration_?" he asked. Celsius sighed and waved her hand to create a pair of ice chairs for them to sit on. The doll thanked her and took a seat, still puzzled as Celsius spun her chair around and plunked down on it, resting her arms on its back.

_"Shadow's not good with explanations, so I'll have to give you the back story for this."_ she remarked, _"_Incineration_ is far too powerful to be used near us because it's a dual element spell. Fire and Light. I am Ice, Shadow is Darkness. It could cancel our powers temporarily if it's cast right next to us."_ Caleb stared at her in shock and the Spirit shrugged. _"Yeah, unbelievable. I know. Anyway, seven thousand years ago, when Kartha created that spell, she joined a young man and a dwarf on a journey to stop an entity called the Famine Lord. They chased it all the way to the Temple of Darkness and Kartha unleashed her spell in its walls when she saw Shadow and got the two confused."_

"I know that. Shadow used his power to save Kartha, Eru and Morius from the collapse of the temple. In exchange, Kartha promised never to use _Incineration_ in the temple again." the doll pointed out. Celsius nodded.

_"Correct. The group then continued the journey, eventually chasing the Famine Lord to my home, an ice palace in a sealed corner of Flanoir. Again, Kartha cast her spell."_ Celsius threw up her hands at that point, exasperated. _"My entire palace was destroyed in the blast! Of course the Famine Lord escaped, but I was homeless! As punishment for her destructive spell, I captured Eru and froze him in a magic crystal."_

"That seems a bit much, considering it wasn't Eru who cast the spell." Caleb murmured disapprovingly. Celsius shot him a frosted glare.

_"It worked out anyway. Kartha had a thing for the kid and swore to me that she would never use the spell in my domain again. I accepted her apology and vow, and released Eru from the crystal. At the end of the venture, both Shadow and I were alerted to the news that Kartha had passed her spell onto Eru. So we showed up to make sure the promise would be extended to him."_ she pointed out and rested her chin on her arms. _"Under the assumption that more copies of _Incineration_ would be loosed upon the world, we told them that only one of them could ever exist. The artifact Eru wielded would be the only carrier of that spell. Both Eru and Kartha decided that the promise Kartha made would be familial. We accepted that and to this day we hold that vow to be binding."_

"Familial? That would mean that the descendants of Kartha and Eru would be bound to the promise." Caleb realized in shock, "Does that mean that Eru and Kartha each married and had children?" Celsius nodded. "But I thought their bloodlines had died!"

_"If you want to know more, master _IceTornado_. Then I'll tell you more."_ the Spirit told him with a smile, _"Stand up. I'll teach you how to cast it, then you can practice it. I'll make some targets for you to use."_

"M-master ice m-magic fast, Caleb." Pepper stammered out from her corner, "This place f-freezy cold!"

* * *

It took another day before Wren was back in his usual mood, cheerfully chopping up ingredients for quiche. Ginger watched him work and sighed. It was hard, knowing that there was a deep wound in him somewhere that he refused to let anyone heal. Anytime she tried to step into the subject again, no matter how carefully, the Wonder Chef would clam up and scowl at her so fiercely she physically retreated from him.

"_Adam, cast from paradise, how do you get back in? 'One day, someday, when I confess my sin.'_" she murmured to herself, "_Adam, cast from paradise, how do you save your soul? 'Never, forever, my sin swallowed it whole.'_" Wren looked up from the pot with a frown.

"What is **that** supposed to mean?" he demanded. Ginger shook her head.

"It's nothing, just part of a poem I remember as a little girl. My grandmother sang it to me every time I misbehaved. But it _does_ seem to fit you, Adam. Even your name is the same as the boy in the song." she murmured. Wren shook his head in exasperation.

"That's something else that's been bothering me for a while. When you first joined us, you said you'd call me Wren. Yet every time you talk to me, you call me Adam. Why?" he asked. The confectioner shrugged as she studied her shoes.

"It didn't seem right. I tried to call you 'Wren' once, but I felt sick. It's not my place to call you that name." she replied and looked tearful, eyes dropping in shamed remembrance, "You got the name because of me, because I almost got you killed and instead you lost your memory. Caleb named you 'Wren' out of kindness and caring. How can I, the one who betrayed your trust so many times, call you by a name that represents the bond between close friends?" She blinked as the corner of a white handkerchief touched her tears gently, drying them away.

"If you don't want to call me Wren, then that's fine. I don't mind whatever name you call me." the chef told her softly, "The fact that you're even willing to talk to me, despite our different backgrounds, is good enough for me. Besides..." He smiled brightly at her, "...it's nice to hear someone in our group call me by my real name. Caleb calls me Wren, Pepper keeps calling me Yummy, the world knows me only as Wonder Chef; to have someone other than my family call me Adam helps me remember that I'm a real person!" Ginger looked ready to cry again.

"It's not fair." she whimpered and hugged her legs, burying her face in her knees, "It's just not fair! Why couldn't you be a confectioner like me? You're too kind! The world doesn't deserve you as Wonder Chef!" Wren blinked at her in confusion, then checked on the cooking dish before returning to her.

"Is your ring supposed to glow like that?" he asked after a moment. Ginger lifted her head and gazed sadly at the Sardonyx Ring. It shone on her hand, not incredibly bright, but enough to shimmer in the light of the cooking fire.

"Yeah, but I don't know why it does that." she mumbled and held out her hand, "It usually doesn't glow unless I..." Ginger pressed her palm against Wren's arm and the stone glowed brighter, "touch you. How funny. It got really bright now." Both chefs looked down at the stone for a moment, blushing slightly.

"The quiche is done." Wren said at last, breaking the uncomfortably long silence. Ginger pulled her hand away and resumed hugging herself.

"Thanks. Sorry." she mumbled, "It really isn't fair. I will marry no one but my equal in confectionery." She rubbed her tears away as the blonde served her some of the dinner. "You're too scatter-brained, Adam! Pick a food and stay with it!"


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 7

Celsius watched her pupil struggle with mastering _Freeze Lancer_. _Ice Tornado_ had taken him half a day to work through, and this one looked like it would take another half day. Luckily, Caleb didn't need sleep and neither did the Spirit. Both stayed up to alternate between teaching magic and sparring to practice it on a moving target. Caleb cast forth the spells but seemed to falter half-way through, weakening the magic as it went on. Celsius smacked him in the back of the head after one such incident.

_"What's the matter with you? Focus!"_ she demanded. Caleb sighed and rubbed his head.

"I'm sorry, Celsius, but it's been a week since I left the Temple of Darkness and I'm really worried about Wren and Ginger." he began and got another smack.

_"They'll be fine! The Wonder Chef isn't one to just starve himself and another being out of hysterics! He's calmer than that, everyone knows it!"_ she scolded.

"He always panics around me." Caleb muttered as he gathered up the mana for another try at the spell.

_"Because he knows he can rely on you to deal with the problem for him. Voraci can be manipulative when he wants to be; he gets it from Kartha."_ Celsius grumbled. Caleb halted his spell, staring at her.

"What?" he finally uttered in shock. The Spirit waved her hand at him, making a derisive snort.

_"You heard me! The Voracis are descendants of Kartha and Eru, even though they themselves don't realize it. The bloodline spread out so far that it was assumed to be lost when the two of them disappeared during an ambush."_ she told the doll, _"The children that survived the separation went into various families by marriage, passing down the blood and knowledge of their ancestors with each generation. One of those unions eventually became the Voraci Family, and the latest children of the Voracis are directly related to the Tanrehts through two of the daughters of Eru and Kartha. That's part of the reason why _Incineration_ becomes so powerful when cast by the current Wonder Chef. It's directly tied to his blood."_

"Are you saying Eru and Kartha married _each other_?" the doll shrieked in astonishment, "A human and a half-elf?" Celsius nodded and Caleb groaned, rubbing his head. "Man, what a brain-killer. I'd hate to see what happens when Wren finds out."

_"Which is why you're not telling him."_ Celsius agreed and frowned when the doll stared at her again, _"This information can't be leaked to him yet. He's not ready to accept who he is, he's barely getting back into the groove of being Wonder Chef at all! You know that, we all know that! We Summon Spirits are partially responsible for the development of the Ultimate Recipe, so we have to keep tabs on him too!"_

"Oh, I wish I could eat, then I could take something for this headache." Caleb groaned and resumed spell-casting, "What a bombshell!"

Once Celsius approved his use of _Freeze Lancer_ and_ Ice Tornado_, Caleb began training to use _Absolute_, the strongest of the ice spells. Pepper worked on her language skills, sometimes striking up a conversation with Celsius to practice, beaming as the Spirit clapped at her efforts approvingly. Her tolerance of Celsius' chamber increased once Caleb tied Salmendra's Proof onto her sash. Amazingly enough, it did just as the ring's inscription had said, 'hold back the power of the frozen north'. Shards of ice rained down on them suddenly one day and both the Spirit and mana beast glared at Caleb. The doll rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Sorry! My aim was a little off!" he apologized and rubbed at his torso, "I'm running a little low on mana from my free use crystal. Pepper, can you give me a recharge?" The mana beast looked thoughtful.

"Depends. It daytime or nighttime?" she asked. Caleb checked his internal clock and reported it to be noon. "Okay, I charge from sunlight. Wait short time." Pepper told him and watched him remove the crystal from his chest cavity. She picked it up in her mouth, then trotted off to leave the caves. Celsius observed the transaction with interest.

_"I see. So that's how you're able to use magic despite being a doll."_ she remarked.

"That and my body is made mostly of aionis alloy. Until I get that crystal back, I won't be able to cast anything." Caleb answered and smiled, "Anything else I should know about Wren and the promise Kartha made? You seem determined to destroy my sanity a piece at a time."

_"Since Kartha, his ancestor, made the spell, and both she and Eru promised to never use it in my or Shadow's temples under a familial vow, then the Voraci Family must follow that vow."_ the Spirit told him, _"And this current Voraci broke the promise by using _Incineration_ in Shadow's temple. So he's gonna have to make up for it somehow. He can apologize and make a new promise that will take the place of the one Kartha and Eru made, but without a family of his own, it won't bind."_

"What does that mean?" Caleb asked, puzzled. Celsius shook her head in irritation.

_"How dense can you get? It means that the promise is invalid unless the Wonder Chef has a wife, or at the very least, a mistress. Someone to bear children for his bloodline."_ she griped at him.

"The man's a virgin, Celsius! He doesn't have anyone like that! He's too shy to even talk to a decent girl!" the doll exclaimed, "He's only seventeen years old, how is he to have a _wife_ by that age?"

_"That's a good age to be married. Anyway, if the Tanreht bloodline is to continue at its current strength, he's gonna have to have children."_ Celsius pointed out, _"Of the many families that can trace their roots to Eru, the Voracis are the strongest tie so far. It helps that every few generations all of those families bring in magical blood to keep up the strength for Kartha, then marry into each other to keep the strength of Eru's blood."_ Caleb wasn't even registering the words, eyes practically popping out of his head as he remembered a detail that took on new importance.

"For the love of Martel, _Ginger's with him right now!_" he screamed, clutching his head in horror, "What if Shadow thinks Ginger is Wren's _wife_? What if he makes the promise while Shadow is under the assumption that Ginger is married to Wren?"

_"Then they'd have no choice but to marry. Shadow tends to be a bit of a home-wrecker if he thinks he's been duped."_ Celsius remarked and looked over at the door as Pepper trotted back in with a shining crystal in her beak-like muzzle.

"That's insane! They'd sooner kill each other in the kitchen than walk down an aisle together! I've tried to get them to develop feelings for each other and all I got was a brink of war!" the doll wailed.

_"Then master _Absolute_ fast and get back to Shadow before he decides to pester the Wonder Chef for the new promise."_ Celsius told him, _"Or you might return to see pieces of human all over the place and that is so not cool."_

* * *

"Why don't **you** cook something for a change?" Wren muttered from where he lay on the blackened earth. Ginger looked up with a frown, her thoughts now scattered by the sudden question.

"_Me?_ Why deprive the great Wonder Chef of something he's good at for _my_ personal tastes?" she retorted bitingly.

"Because I don't feel like cooking anything today. I'm tired of doing it all. Make something yourself if you want to eat." Wren replied grumpily and closed his eyes, weaving his hands behind his head to rest. Ginger growled wordlessly and got up, stomping towards the pot and bag of ingredients. Another day had passed and the confectioner had tried to question him about his earlier words, about half-elves and discrimination and the mysterious place he'd been in that so scared him he didn't even speak its name, only to get a strange form of retaliation. Wren would walk to the edge of the misted clearing, that fine line between leaving the camp and returning to it via the magic loop, and drop into camouflage, turning into something that blended into the surrounding smoke and fog and made it impossible for her to find him.

"You're such an ass." she muttered and picked at the vegetables and dried meats. After a moment, Ginger looked lost, pulling out random ingredients. "Okay, let's see if I can figure this out. It's just like making candy, right? Add the ingredients together and make something yummy." she murmured and looked at her collection. It looked okay, but could she actually make something with it? Chicken, carrots, potatoes, dried beans, sage, black satay... oh hell, what was this weird powder in the glass shaker?

"Having trouble?" Wren suddenly asked, a smile forming on his lips as he continued relaxing. Ginger shot him an evil glare despite knowing he wasn't even looking at her.

"I'll have you know that I'm preparing an ancient Spicewood Family recipe!" she snapped haughtily. She watched an eye open partway, sliding over to look at her smugly.

"Really? What's it called?" he purred. Ginger turned red and folded her arms over her chest. This was starting to tick her off; since when did the Wonder Chef act like such a brat?

"It's a secret! Like your stupid Ultimate Recipe! It doesn't need a name because it's so delicious and good that a name would ruin it!" she yelled and scowled at the carrot sitting before her on the cutting board. Wren smiled wider.

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" he returned. It seemed more statement than question and Ginger flushed a deeper red, keeping her eyes on the ingredients. She reached for the knife and carrot, then very deliberately began chopping it into coins, making sure that each meeting of wood and knife blade made a satisfyingly loud _thunk!_ "Don't chip my knives. Make sure you're using the appropriate cutting board for each ingredient." Wren pointed out, closing his eyes again, "When chopping, remember to keep the balance of the knife, and check to be sure you're even using the right blade."

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing!" Ginger yelled back, then returned to chopping. She finished murdering the carrot, then took on a blank expression. What should she do next? Should she slice all the vegetables first? Maybe she should have put water in the pot to boil; that's what the pond nearby was for, right? How much water should she put? Wait, how many vegetables should she use anyway? What if she made too much?

Ginger set the knife down with a depressed sigh. This was harder than making candy. At least she knew what ingredients to use for making sweets, but sweets were meant as luxury desserts and treats, not as meals. Her grandmother made pretty good meals for her and her brothers, nothing as great as what a Dark Chef could whip up, far less than a Wonder Chef's cooking, but Ginger never actually bothered to learn that kind of cooking. What was the point? When she grew up, she'd make candy, sell them, then go out to eat. Or, maybe she would hire a cook to make meals for her; why not? She was going to open a candy-shop, make lots of gald, live happily and richly all her days.

But that was before Cruxis killed her family and ended her dreams. What did she have now? A lousy reputation as a Dark Chef traitor and former spy; worst of all, the Wonder Organization viewed her as a traitor and, given the chance, would string her up by her pretty neck for trying to kill off their precious Wonder Chef, who was now grinning like an idiot while pretending to take a nap behind her.

"Hopeless. _Sans doute._" Ginger whispered sadly and picked up a carrot coin, "And I've ruined a carrot for no reason." She ate the coin slowly, resigned to eating it raw. Might as well get used to it. Once everything was done, this was probably how she would live from now on.

"What are you doing?" Wren suddenly asked, voice a different tone from earlier, "Why the heck are you eating a carrot like that?"

"Piss off, Wonder Boy; I'm eating." Ginger growled and glared back, only to jump at seeing the blonde right behind her, "What the hell-?" He was bent over, looking past her shoulder at the mess of carrot on the cutting board, a concerned expression on his face.

"Eating natural foods is good and all, but you still shouldn't eat anything raw like that. Especially once you've chopped it up. You could get sick. Rinse before eating." he finally added and looked at her, "Haven't you ever made a simple stew before? How about chicken and dumplings? Omelets?" Ginger scowled at him.

"What do _you_ care? I'm a candy-maker, or did you forget that already?" she hissed as Wren picked up the cutting board. "Hey! That's my lunch!" she added upon seeing him pick out a carrot piece and study it.

"You were chopping with too much force. There's bits of wood in this. This isn't lunch; it's pet food." he finally murmured and sat down with the confectioner, "What were you trying to make?" Ginger kept silent, fuming as she glared into the cooking fire. Wren waited patiently, watching her. After a few minutes, the anger seemed to evaporate and Ginger sighed hopelessly, shaking her head slightly.

"I have no clue. I never learned to cook real food; my grandmother was trying to teach me, but between running errands for the store and mastering the candy recipes with my brothers, I didn't have time. And after Ozette burned, I lost the will to try." she mumbled and blinked as Wren swept the pieces of carrot from the board into another bag, then reached across her to grab a small pack of something green. "What are you doing?"

"Saving the pieces. I don't like wasting food so I'll feed it to something when we get out of here. I bet there's a rabbit somewhere that will appreciate it." the chef replied and set the board on a rolled out piece of fabric from his pack. "First, clear an area for the cutting board. You need to keep it clean so dirt doesn't get into the ingredients. We'll be making ramen, so let's start with slicing the seaweed." he added as he opened the pack and pulled out a handful of the greenery. "Fold them up like this, so the cuts are even and thorough..."

"What the **hell** are you doing?" Ginger finally yelled at him. Wren winced and straightened, looking at her with a slight frown.

"You didn't have to shout in my ear, you know." he answered. The confectioner glared at him and he sighed. "I'm teaching you how to make ramen, okay? It's a good recipe and fairly easy to work with, but if you want something easier to start with then I can teach you cabbage rolls." he answered.

"Who said I wanted you to teach me _anything_? I already know your recipes! I stole them all, remember?" Ginger snapped, "What use do I have of outdated pieces of crap like that? I make candy! I'm going to sell them and be rich and hire a cook to make all my meals for me!" Wren only looked at her calmly, never changing his expression as she raged at him. "Ramen! Hah! Do I look like I'm from Mizuho? I don't even like ramen! And cabbage rolls! What a joke! Nobody cares about a stupid little recipe like that! You're wasting my time, Wonder Chef!" Ginger stopped to catch her breath, panting from the effort of trying to provoke the blonde that only remained impassive.

"Are you done?" he asked at last. Ginger blinked, looked momentarily thoughtful, then nodded uncertainly. "Okay, then. Grip the knife securely in your hand and hold it..." Wren went on.

"Why are you _doing_ this?" the confectioner cried, finally bursting into tears of frustration, "I said I don't want to learn anything from you! I don't need to! I'm going to hire a cook!"

"What kind of cook?"

Ginger clamped her mouth shut and stared at Wren in surprise. What kind of question was that? The blonde was holding the knife in one hand strangely, as if trying to grab the very middle of the utensil without slicing his fingers on the blade. He remained still as he watched her for a response, almost as if the knife in his hand didn't matter anymore. She tilted her head in confusion of it all.

"What cook would you hire to make your meals? A Dark Chef or a Wonder Cook? Or, just for the hell of it, a normal average cook with no ties to anyone but himself?" Wren repeated. Ginger moved her mouth to answer, but not a sound came through. She turned pink and looked down at her hands. "Let's look at the options, each on their own. If you hire a Dark Chef, your meals will be luxurious and beautiful to look at, works of art that make you wish you didn't have to eat them. They would taste delicious... at first. Then as time passes, the novelty wears off and you find yourself wishing for something not so overwhelming to the senses." the chef told her softly, "And you feel stranger and stranger as the days go by. Your health seems to fail, your body no longer as limber and energetic as it had once been. Your last meal will be the richest you will ever see, as well as the most costly. That is the fate of those who dine on Dark Chef cooking; they die from the overindulgence of rich food. Beautiful, but deadly.

"A Wonder Cook in your home promises meals that cater to your every need. Food that makes you feel better when you're sick, that refreshes you when the stress of life wears on you, enables you to live longer, healthier, more alive than you've ever felt before." Wren went on, the words almost hypnotic as Ginger pictured herself in each scenario, eating from the different cooks' repertoire of recipes, "Those meals, while giving you the ability to live like never before, are still lacking something. Yes, they're good for you; yes, they taste delicious; but _look_ at them. So plain and normal and sometimes even unattractive to look at; certainly nothing worth serving to a king. Least, not the way one thinks nowadays. What high-class woman would serve cabbage rolls and omelets at a _banquet_? Not to mention the fact that he'll randomly run off and disappear to follow orders from some mystery guy he calls the Wonder Chef. How _atrocious_. No nobleman would take you seriously if he sees your cook disappear like that.

"Now take a chef who aligns with no one. He is his own man. His food is of normal quality, certainly there's a lot of variety. And if you provide him with books and ingredients there's a good chance he'll learn new techniques, new recipes, maybe invent a few himself." Wren went on and tilted his head as if in thought, "Who will taste-test these creations, though? And quality can vary depending on how he feels about you at the moment. If he's mad at you, expect food that makes you sick to the core of your body. Oh he won't do it on purpose, no, no. That's against the morals of cooks and chefs. But that doesn't stop the negative energy that will taint the recipe. Good chefs learn to curb that energy. Average ones; meh, it's your dinner. Your life will be of average quality; some days you feel really good; some, not so good. It doesn't matter if there are meals that are stunning to behold or nutritious enough to stave off the plague, because your cook knows nothing of those recipes. He only knows to make something to eat to keep you alive and put gald in his pocket. So, tell me, Ms. Candy-Maker, who would **you** choose to prepare your meals for you for the rest of your days?"

"You sound horrible." Ginger finally whispered, looking up at him with frightened eyes, "You sound... cruel..." Wren was still apathetic, only raising an eyebrow at the comment.

"Life is cruel. The world is cruel. Food can be cruel if prepared the right way. But I still haven't heard your answer." he replied in the same soft voice, "Given your options, Dark Chef's food of beauty, Wonder Cook's food of health, Cook's food of profit, which would you choose to eat for the rest of your life?"

"Can't I just pick **you** and be done with it?" Ginger sighed in frustration, trying not to cry again. Wren shook his head.

"Wonder Chef doesn't count. He belongs to everyone and no one at once. His food is unusual, eating it brings health and restorative properties if you are a warrior. If you're an average person, it's still healthy, ordinary to look at... but then it's not." the blonde answered in a normal tone, "You look at it but you're not sure why it looks so much more delicious than the food of a Dark Chef. You eat it, but it tastes so much more wholesome than the food of a Wonder Cook. You try to pay for it with things of monetary value and the Wonder Chef claims you've already paid him well. Can you tell me, Ginger, why it is that a Wonder Chef stands above all three of them like that? Why he's placed on such a pedestal, isolated from others, alone in a rank of his own? What makes him and his cooking different from the rest?" Ginger shook her head slowly, unsure of what he was trying to say. Wren smiled distantly, sadly, and spread his hands helplessly. "I'd tell you if I could, but the only way to know is to learn to cook yourself. Now, will you let me teach you how to make something? If you don't like ramen, we can make something else. How about spaghetti?"

"Ramen is fine." Ginger sighed defeatedly, "I lied about not liking it. Your ramen is always so damn good. Why?" Wren smiled again as handed her the knife, handle first.

"Learn to make it, and you'll see why." he replied.

* * *

_"Okay, now you're showing off."_ Celsius remarked with a grin as Caleb cast _Absolute_ into the air and managed to wedge the resulting ice shards between two large icicles. He grinned back at her.

"Tada! A frozen chandelier!" he laughed, "And it only took a little over a week to master all of those ice spells. Thanks a lot, Celsius!"

"We go now, Caleb? Please?" Pepper whimpered, spinning in a circle worriedly, "Yummy and Candy wait long time for us." The doll nodded and looked to the Spirit for confirmation.

_"Yeah, you're ready. Get out of here. Make sure Shadow doesn't rip your Wonder Chef pal a new one for using _Incineration_."_ Celsius replied with a dismissive wave, her smile still on her face. Caleb thanked her again and ran for Pepper.

"You heard her! Let's get out of here! I've got all the data I need and now we can save Wren and Ginger!" he exclaimed.

"Good. Me very hungry for good food." Pepper declared and shot off into the air to escape the frozen caverns.

* * *

The Temple of Darkness didn't offer up the same resistance as before, an indicator that the Summon Spirit of Darkness was holding the monsters back with his power in anticipation of the doll's return. Caleb and Pepper raced down the stairs and paths to the lower chamber where the seal was located. The damage from _Incineration_ was partially repaired already, bands of shadows criss-crossing over the cracks and pulling the broken stone together with some magical adhesive.

"Shadow! Shadow, I'm back! I learned all the ice magic Celsius had on hand!" the doll cried out as he and Pepper dashed into the final chamber. Shadow seemed bored, lounging on a solid black couch that hovered just above the seal itself.

_"That was fast."_ he commented dryly. He sat up and slid fluidly from the couch to stand before the panting redhead as Pepper shook herself off and looked wary. _"I finish training."_ the Spirit added and reached out, placing a fingertip over Caleb's 'heart'. _"But you have no ability to channel dark mana. Mana crystals in your body... light and fire. Same as _Incineration_."_ The Summon Spirit seemed to frown, pulling back to fold his arms over his chest in thought.

"But I was able to use other kinds of magic, ice and wind and earth and water... What does it matter with dark magic?" Caleb asked in confusion.

_"Difficult to channel naturally for living beings. More difficult for you."_ Shadow replied absently and held up his hands, cupping them together. _"I create mana crystal of shadow for you. Use it. Find a way to have mana beast draw mana from shadows."_ he decided. The doll nodded and reached out to accept the black crystal once it was formed. Carefully replacing it in the Tri-Crystal System, Caleb waited a moment for the mana to flow into his system and be ready for use. He blinked and winced suddenly.

"Ow! It hurts!" he yelped, "It really does! I'm not supposed to feel pain!"

_"Walk it off. Mana is mana; body designed to run on all mana, correct?"_ Shadow pointed out. Caleb nodded, still confused as he pressed a hand over the location of the mana crystal.

"Yeah, but this seems weird. Ow. It's not doing anything abnormal to my body systems, but it still seems to be affecting me somehow. I don't know why." he remarked and winced again. "It's not as bad now. What a strange conflict; almost as if I innately can't stand dark mana." He shook his head and looked up at the Spirit. "What spells use the mana of darkness?"

_"_Dark Sphere_. _Bloody Lance_. Only two that can be taught to others for now."_ Shadow replied, _"Start with _Dark Sphere_. Mimic _Photon_ but channel dark mana. Use light crystals for targets."_ Caleb looked around and spotted a few of the white stones from the upper floors now propped up not too far from them. He wondered briefly how the stones were moved down to the seal chamber when Shadow couldn't stand light sources of any kind other than the blue candle.

"_Photon_? But that wasn't in the book of spells Altessa got for me. I don't know how to use _Photon_." the doll protested. Shadow waved his hand in dismissal as he headed back to the couch.

_"You practice. I speak with Voraci."_ the Spirit remarked and picked up the book he left behind. Pepper blinked and jumped onto all four paws.

"Caleb! Book!" she cried and the doll gave a start.

"Ah! Wait! Ginger's not-!" Caleb began but by then the Summon Spirit had disappeared into the gray book. He raced up and opened the pages, flipping through them until he found the images of his friends. "This isn't going to end well, is it, Pepper?" he sighed. The mana beast whimpered.

"Yummy gonna do _FireLight_ spell again. Shadow gonna be maaaaaad!" she declared with a shake of her head.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8

"Okay, so when exactly is Caleb going to save us from this place?" Ginger asked irritably, drumming her fingers on one cutting board as she watched Wren clean off the others. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Usually Caleb keeps track of me, not the other way around." the chef replied and looked at the sack of ingredients worriedly. "But you're right about it taking so long. We're running out of supplies and I don't know any recipes that can make use of the leftovers without making us both sick to our stomachs." He turned and glared at her hand on the board. "And please take your hands off of that. I just finished sanitizing it and I don't want to have to clean them all over again." Ginger frowned and pulled away, bored as the item was picked up and put back into the small cauldron for washing.

"Why are you so picky about what I do?" she grumbled, returning to her previous game of spinning the Sardonyx Ring around her finger. She reached out with her hand and continued spinning it, eyeing the jewel to see how close she could flick it to the blonde's ear without actually touching him.

"Why do you keep looking for ways to annoy me?" Wren muttered back. He glanced aside at her as he continued washing the cutting boards and cooking utensils. "Stop treating that ring like a toy. Sheena didn't loan it to you for you to utterly disrespect it like that. Do you even know what it cost her to earn that ring?" he added in a tone that bordered on the edge of anger.

"No, but I have a feeling you're gonna tell me anyway." Ginger retorted with a sneer, flicking the ring and watching the growing shine in the jewel as she extended her reach a little further. Wren ignored the small mass of gem and silver smacking against his ear as he rinsed off the cutting boards. "What's this? The great Wonder Chef isn't going to make a stand and give me a long rambling speech about respect and responsibility?" she purred, smiling as she spied him turning slightly pink at the cheeks.

"Stop that." he grumbled, "I thought we had an understanding about your behavior."

"_You_ thought we had an understanding." Ginger corrected, pulling her hand back to study her ring. The shine remained, but it wasn't as bright as when it was making contact with the chef. She smiled again and leaned forward. "I never agreed to let you off the main menu." the confectioner whispered into his ear, grinning, "Once we have that cooking battle, I'm going to chew you up like taffy and swallow you up." Wren immediately moved away from her, startled as a deep blush spread across his face.

"Get away from me!" he gasped. Ginger laughed, crawling after him as the blonde scrambled backwards to gain distance. "What are you doing? Knock it off!"

"Oh come on. Don't tell me you don't even know. I'm a _candy-maker_, remember?" she laughed, chasing him around the cooking fire, "I need some sugar!"

"There's some in the pack! Take that and stay on your side of the meadow!" Wren yelled back. The confectioner grinned wider and he bolted for the edge of the meadow. She whooped and chased after him, laughing as the two circled the looping world. Shadow chose that time to materialize into the world, the swirls of dark mana spinning together to form his shape. He stood there and watched stoically as the two chefs raced by him obliviously, both of them now laughing.

"Aaaand... Gotcha!" Ginger declared, leaping forward and tackling the blonde, who braced for the impact and kept them from falling over. "Admit it! That wasn't so bad! You see what boredom does to cooks running out of food to play with?" Wren nodded, laughing.

"Okay, okay, I give! But don't start off by freaking me out next time!" he declared and paused abruptly. "Wait, something's..." he suddenly murmured strangely and looked over at Shadow. Ginger blinked at him, then spotted the Spirit as well. She shrieked and jumped back away from it.

"What is that? It's a monster!" she screamed. Wren snatched up the Wonder Fork and held it forward, stepping between her and Shadow.

_"Did I... come at bad time?"_ Shadow muttered, _"Wouldn't want to interrupt... procreation... of next Voraci."_

"It talks!" Ginger screeched and blinked, "What did it mean by 'procreation'?" Wren stood his ground, spinning the fork before him defensively, a grim expression on his face.

"Okay, I don't know what you are or how you got in this place, but you've obviously never tangled with a Wonder Chef before." he told the Spirit, "If you leave quietly, I'll spare you the food fight. I don't like wasting ingredients." Shadow rolled his eyes and shook his head.

_"Idiot. Here to tell... why you... this place."_ he growled, _"I am Shadow, Summon Spirit of Darkness."_ Wren blinked uncertainly, but maintained his protective stance. Ginger crept closer, confused. The Wonder Chef? Protecting _her_? From a _Summon Spirit_? _"Bloodline... very strong. You... sensed... change before... seeing me."_

"Something was different. This world... feels complete." Wren murmured uneasily. "What bloodline are you talking about?" Shadow moved forward, ignoring the fork that stopped spinning and had its prongs aimed at him. "Don't come closer! How did we get here? Were you the one who sent us here?" the chef demanded fiercely.

_"Not something... for you to learn... yet. You... broke Kartha's promise. What... are you going... to do to... make up for it?"_ the Spirit demanded. Wren blinked again and shook his head, frowning.

"Excuse me? How did I break a promise made by an ancient half-elf? I'm descended from the Voracis, not Kartha's family. I'm human." he pointed out.

_"Kartha promised no _Incineration_. You broke promise. How are we to repair damage you inflicted?"_ Shadow went on, ignoring the previous question.

"There's that half-elf's name again." Ginger grumbled, irritation replacing fear for the time being. "What more does that Kartha person have to do with the Wonder Organization than putting her spell on that old fork?"

_"Kartha's promise is familial. You broke it; you fix it."_ the Spirit countered, glaring at Wren, _"Make a new promise... a new pact... to take place of one your ancestors made."_ Wren frowned and set the fork down beside him.

"I see how it is. You got confused by the rumors, too. Look. I'm not related to Eru Tanreht. I have to fake it to keep the continuity of the Wonder Chef Family going, and Kartha isn't even involved in the story of Eru's family. She just travelled with him and bestowed the spell on the Wonder Fork. That's it." he told the Summon Spirit. Ginger nodded agreeably and waved at him, hoping the creature would get the hint and leave. "Eru's bloodline is dead. All Wonder Chefs know the story. The Tanreht Family was ambushed by soldiers from an army serving an invading country. They tried to get the Ultimate Recipe by taking the children hostage. When Eru and his wife opted to leap from the top of their home to their deaths instead of giving them the Recipe, the soldiers killed the children. The bloodline died that day."

_"Then how did Recipe survive?"_ Shadow asked, grinning slyly. Wren's mouth fell open once he caught the meaning behind the question. _"Humans... such simple creatures. With prize of great importance in hands of family, parents may pass on to protect it and invaders won't care. It is possibility that children possess knowledge of secret that guarantees continued life. And Eru possessed Wonder Fork at time, very same you hold now. Why think he and wife would so easily choose to die, when in time it takes to fall they can vanish into air?"_

Ginger raised an eyebrow, then blinked as the idea was dawning on her as well. She stared at Wren in shock. Could the crazy story Caleb told her a week or so before be more than just a story? Could the legendary First Wonder Chef have actually survived that famous ambush seven thousand years ago?

"Uh. O-okay. So maybe one or two kids lived through the slaughter and passed the Recipe onto the Royal Order. And maybe Eru had a calm enough head to teleport to safety." Wren stammered out, a weak smile on his face, "That still has nothing to do with me and my use of _Incineration_." He spread his hands helplessly. "You said it was a familial promise, right? It's not my fault you have a case of mistaken identity. For all we know, the last of Eru's children may have fallen victim to the war that consumed the two countries, and Eru could have died on the battlefield. That would have led to the Royal Order becoming the Wonder Organization and choosing to operate in the shadows to protect the Wonder Chefs that took Eru's place. And since it was _Kartha_ who made the promise, not Eru, it shouldn't apply to me at all. I'm a human."

_"No fatalities. All ten children survived. Eru and wife survived."_

"No, they didn't! And Eru only had four children! Your brain's turned into scrambled eggs!" Wren snapped angrily, "Now get us out of this place and take us back to Caleb and Pepper! I didn't do anything wrong except protect my friends from a bunch of stupid monsters!" Shadow blinked slowly at him.

_"You and girl will remain until you agree to make new promise. I have doll to deal with."_ he told the chef, pulling himself to full height as he glared down at him. _"In meantime, try not to ruin place. It took time to build it."_ Shadow narrowed his eyes suddenly._ "Humans are strange creatures; soldiers that survived war took children, sold them to others as brides and husbands to pay own prison fines. How many children were born from marriages? How many families have bloodlines crossed over thousands of years? And how easily can Eru Tanreht hide name for his children by folding bloodlines back into his own, then spreading those children into new bloods?"_ With that, Shadow disappeared into nothing, fading into the darkness of the world.

"Is it possible, Adam? Could you _really_ be descended from Eru?" Ginger asked at last once the silence was too much to bear. Wren dropped to his knees, hanging his head in disbelief.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" he murmured, "Am I doomed to keep learning things that prove my whole life as I knew it is nothing but lies?" He glared tearfully at the earth and clenched his hands into fists, squeezing the dark earth through his fingers. He ground his teeth, fighting back the sobs that threatened to burst forth. Now he knew what was wrong with the world when he and Ginger first were dropped there. It lacked mana. Though the Summon Spirit of Darkness crafted the strange world, it was created without mana flowing through it and Wren had sensed it without realizing it. "Who am I?" he murmured bitterly, "_What_ am I?"

* * *

Caleb jumped back and dropped the book as Shadow emerged from the pages, scowling out at him. Smiling bashfully, the doll rubbed his head and hoped he didn't look as guilty as he felt while the Spirit climbed up from the book and stood before him. Pepper tried to look busy with grooming herself, glancing over randomly to see if her friend was still in one piece.

_"You are supposed to be learning _Dark Sphere_."_ Shadow growled. Caleb laughed nervously and nodded.

"Ah, yeah! Right! I've got it!" he replied and turned to the crystals, looking lost, "Uh, okay, I don't. I don't know anything about _Photon_, so I don't know how to do it or _Dark Sphere_." He smiled wider, sheepish at the situation he was in. "Ah, would you explain it to me again? In simpler terms?" Shadow grumbled again but began teaching him a less confusing way of channeling the dark mana to cast the spell. Caleb frowned as he cast it on the targets, cracking the white crystals. "This spell seems familiar. Like I've seen it before." he murmured and tilted his head, "What was the other one?"

_"_Bloody Lance_."_ Shadow replied, _"That is next one you must master before I grant you combined spell."_ The doll nodded, continuing to work out the finer points of _Dark Sphere_.

"That one seems familiar too. Why do I feel so... regretful... when I hear those names?" Caleb wondered worriedly, "This isn't right. My memories... I should run another scan on them. Maybe I've heard them somewhere before. Maybe I recorded them by accident while on Derris-Kharlan so long ago." He paused and looked at his palm strangely, "But I remember everything. I can never forget anything. So why do I have a hazy memory of this? I'm not supposed to have deteriorating memories; my entire brain is composed of magitechnology and computer components so all of my memories are recorded in perfect clarity."

"Caleb?" Pepper asked, stepping up to him and nuzzling his arm, "Caleb okay? Caleb look worried, troubled." The doll pet her absently.

"It's nothing. I'm just a little off." he answered and smiled at her, "Probably because I'm alive. I might actually have forgotten something. Well, back to practice." He looked over at Shadow. "We still have that deal right? I learn the spell you want me to have, and you let Wren and Ginger go free?" The Summon Spirit nodded. "I hope you realize that Ginger isn't Wren's wife or anything. Least... not yet." Caleb told him and smiled slightly. "I'm working on that."

_"Promise must be familial. Get Wonder Chef a bride, then everything will work on our end."_ Shadow told him and slid back to the seal, picking up the book, _"And don't touch my book again."_

"Sorry." Caleb sighed and resumed his work on casting _Dark Sphere_, knowing that mastering the dark spell would bring him a step closer to freeing his friends.

* * *

Hours passed and Caleb finally mastered _Dark Sphere_ enough to be allowed to learn _Bloody Lance_. Shadow explained in the words he could work with the relationship between both dark spells and their Light-based counterparts. Each spell that was created had a counter-spell to maintain a balance of power. _Photon_ had _Dark Sphere_, _Tidal Wave_ had _Indignation_. The match-ups could be found if one looked carefully enough.

However, the spell Kartha created had no opposite. Its massive power demanded an equal amount to counter it, but none of the Summon Spirits could find a way to combine such unlikely elements to create the counter-spell. It was a mystery how a half-elf could merge the mana of light and fire into something that could utterly destroy everything in its vicinity. But the greater mystery had been to find a way to combine the opposite mana into a spell that could counter _Incineration_. After three thousand years of trying to find something to rival it, and four thousand more under Mithos' control, the knowledge the Summon Spirits gained about combining elements finally gave them a breakthrough.

Shadow and Celsius finally found a spell to nullify Kartha's _Incineration_. They only needed someone strong enough to learn it and close enough to the source of that spell to cast it at the right time.

"This one is still bringing up bad memories. Or at least bad feelings of memories I still don't have." Caleb muttered as he attempted the first of many castings of _Bloody Lance_. "I ran several scans on my memory. Other than the jump in my databanks that occurred in the Wonder Organization base in Hima, there is nothing that pertains to either _Dark Sphere_ or _Bloody Lance_." He cast the spell again and watched with a frown as the multiple dark-red blades materialized from the mana and slammed into the white crystals. "But I can still hear someone in my mind... someone who cast these spells... Someone I have feelings of regret for." he sighed and shook his head. Shadow watched him cast the spell and narrowed his eyes slightly.

_"Many creatures know these spells. Only one sentient being knew them. Pronyma."_ he told the doll. Caleb looked back at the Spirit in surprise, then confusion.

"Who?" he asked.

_"Half-elf Desian. Subordinate to Mithos."_ Shadow returned and watched another casting of _Bloody Lance_. Caleb shook his head as the swords came together more in concert than before. The troubled look never left his face as he watched the blades vanish into darkness once the spell was complete.

"I don't like this. Where could memories I don't have come from?" he murmured and suddenly shifted on his legs, dropping the subject that was beginning to disturb him, "Hey, have I mastered this spell yet? Pepper's getting antsy."

"Yes! Yes! I want Yummy food now!" the mana beast exclaimed and bounded up and down in place, "Caleb food okay, but Yummy food best! Sorry, sorry, Caleb!"

"No offense taken, Pepper. I can't taste my own cooking, so I can't really tell if I'm getting any better at it. At least I know from others' reactions that Wren's cooking is really good." the doll remarked and looked over at Shadow, "So, spill, Mr. Dark! Am I ready for that spell yet?" The Spirit slid over to the edge of the light from the crystals, peering at them through narrowed eyes.

_"Full mastery will come in time. For now, you may learn spell Celsius and I created."_ Shadow agreed and backed from the light. He raised a hand and both doll and mana beast watched as mana collected into the Spirit's palm, forming something solid. After a minute or so, Shadow held out the creation, a small tablet with lettering etched into the face. _"Study spell carved in this. You will learn it. All you need to know is there."_ He turned away to collect the gray book, disappearing into it as Caleb looked over the tablet.

"Written in modern language. Makes things easier." he muttered, hoping Shadow was going into the book to release the two chefs. He scanned through it once, then began re-reading it slowly. "What a strange name for a spell; _Forsaken_." Caleb murmured, "Let's see... according to the incantations here... this spell is to be cast only if _Incineration_ is cast first. But I can cast it anytime I want, it just wants me to use it when _Incineration_ gets cast." He scratched his head and looked over at Pepper in confusion. "It appears to be a counter-spell. Pepper, Wren's spell is fire and light-based, right?"

"Yes. _FireLight_ much powerful spell. I really like it." the mana beast agreed, "It very good spell." Caleb studied the tablet again. "Why Caleb ask?"

"This spell that Shadow gave me. It's a combination of ice and darkness, the opposite of _Incineration_." he remarked and returned to absorbing the information on the tablet.

* * *

"Would you like a sandwich?" Ginger asked softly, holding out a plate towards Wren. Since Shadow left, the blonde had sat back against one of the blackened trees and stared dully at the cooking fire.

"I'm not hungry." he muttered. The confectioner sighed and sat by him, studying the sandwich she had put together. She'd only managed to learn a few of the simpler recipes before Wren had to stop to save on the ingredients. But of the ones she did learn to make, the chef had seemed pleased with her and Ginger found herself happy with the idea that something she did made him proud. To think that just hours ago the blonde had been lively and true to his nickname.

"Not even a little bite?" she pressed. Wren sighed and shook his head. "You know, that Summon Spirit may have just been talking big to scare you into making a promise. The legend of Eru is told in the Dark Chef Alliance, too, and everyone says that he and his entire family died during a brief war between two countries seven thousand years ago." she remarked and looked thoughtful, "Hmm, the versions are similar... The Dark Chefs' version didn't mention Kartha, though." Wren looked at her in confusion.

"They know about Eru? Did you tell them about the legend?" he asked and Ginger shook her head.

"They had their own version of Eru's journey before I showed up." she replied, "That's how they knew what specific information they wanted me to steal from you."

"Then, how would Dark Chefs know of a Wonder Cook legend?" Wren pressed, still baffled. She shrugged, just as confused-looking as the Wonder Chef. "The only way that could happen is if the story was passed down through the cooks of the Dark Chef Alliance the same way it's passed down in the Organization. That would be proof that the rumor is true; the Wonder Organization is responsible for the founding of the Dark Chef Alliance." he finished depressingly.

"How can that be possible?" Ginger questioned, "Aren't you guys dedicated to protecting the world's food? Why create a group that ruins it?" Wren stood up, frowning in thought as he tapped the end of his nose.

"Three hundred years ago, a Wonder Chef was banished for the crime of discrimination. He was probably the one who destroyed the records of Kartha from the Archive and we confirmed that he denied help to half-elves. His family was exiled to Tethe'alla, but the Wonder Chef himself was sent to a human ranch as per the orders of the Council of Gourmet Chefs." he recounted, "A few years after the new Wonder Chef ascended, reports of strange cooks stealing ingredients and cooking unhealthy foods in restaurants began to come in. After the first skirmish between the Wonder Chef and one of those cooks, the Organization learned that there was another group of chefs in the world. They called themselves the Dark Chef Alliance, rivals of the Wonder Chef Family."

"DuGorge mentioned something about his family being born to avenge the Fallen Chef." Ginger agreed, standing up with him and holding out the plate of food. Wren shook his head in refusal at the sandwich and she scowled at the third rejection of food. "Did the Wonder Chef that was exiled have a son or something?" she went on instead.

"Maybe." the chef murmured and blinked in shock, looking over at her, "Wait, are you saying that DuGorge is descended from that exiled Wonder Chef?" Ginger shrugged again and he groaned in realization. "Then that explains a lot. The Wonder Fork reacts to DuGorge the same way it does with me; it recognizes the fact that he's of the same class as a Wonder Chef!" Wren held his head as if in pain. "I can't keep taking things like this!" he cried, "One after another, the very beliefs I held close to heart are being torn to pieces!" Ginger frowned and set the plate aside before jumping before him, arms akimbo as she gave him a fierce look.

"Then throw them away! If the information you have is bad, get rid of it!" she told him, "So what if the legends about Eru and Kartha, the truth of DuGorge's family line, and the truth about the origins of the Wonder Fork destroys everything you thought you knew about the Wonder Organization and that stupid Wonder Chef title? It doesn't change who **you** are!"

"Yes, it **does**!" Wren snapped back. "It changes _everything_ about me! For all I know, I probably shouldn't even be _alive_!"

"You idiot, if you're born, then you have every **right** to be alive!" Ginger scolded, "What the hell makes you think otherwise?" Wren shook the fork at her as if infuriated with it.

"This thing! I was born to wield this thing!" he yelled, "Born to be Wonder Chef! Nothing more, nothing less, and the world will _never_ see me as anyone but the Wonder Chef!" He tossed the fork down between them and folded his arms over his chest stubbornly. "If DuGorge truly is of the Wonder Chef line from three centuries before me, then he could very well have a valid claim to this fork and the title. And with the Council the way it is towards me, I wouldn't be surprised if they preferred to have him take my place. That being the case, I may as well be dead because there's no reason for me to be alive." he growled.

"You think this stupid fork and that title is all there is of you?" Ginger demanded incredulously. Wren threw his hands up in frustration.

"I just got done _telling_ you that!" he griped, "This world treats the Wonder Chef like the Chosen; they are there to serve the people and nothing more. They care nothing about some guy named Adam Voraci, but they fall all over themselves to be seen with the Wonder Chef."

"You're an _idiot_." Ginger growled, turning her back to him, "This world can't care about Adam Voraci because no one bothered to let them know he exists! You present yourself to them as Wonder Chef, but did you ever think to just walk among them as Adam?" She glared over her shoulder at him. "Or are you so obsessed with being the perfect Wonder Chef that you can't accept yourself as **just** Adam Voraci?"

The return of Shadow seemed to save the blonde from answering, as he immediately stiffened and looked towards the area where the mana began to collect and form the black and violet shape of the Summon Spirit. Ginger huffed indignantly and glared at the Spirit, watching in frustration as he slid towards them fluidly. Wren folded his arms again and glared aside, unwilling to face the Summon Spirit that had shattered yet another illusion of stability he had.

"What the hell do you want with me now?" he hissed scathingly, "How many more daggers do you plan on stabbing into me? Maybe you've come to tell me that the Council's finally decided to exile me and put some guy who doesn't know the difference between seafood stew and pescatore in my place? Or maybe that the whole Organization is just a pawn of the Dark Chef Alliance?"

_"Came to see girl."_ Shadow hissed at him and headed for Ginger, _"Caleb fulfilled promise; both of you free to go. Let me see hand."_ Ginger blinked and held out her hands to the Spirit warily, unsure of what he wanted. Shadow bent and studied the ring on her finger carefully. _"I see. Sheena's ring. How did you come by it?"_

"She loaned it to me. Said I could have it to ease tensions between me and the idiot chef over there." she answered defiantly, jutting up her chin and daring either the Spirit or Wren to comment on that. Shadow merely nodded.

_"I see. Volt's power... works well. Return the ring when it completes mission."_ he murmured and turned to Wren, _"Take possessions. I release you. No _Incineration_ ever again. Not here."_

"Fine." Wren growled and snatched up his pack and the Wonder Fork. Ginger stood by him and the three beings vanished as Shadow used his power to pull them all out of the book.

* * *

The reunion of friends brought the stressful time to an end as Caleb embraced each chef happily, Pepper nuzzling them all excitedly. Shadow only stood by and watched impassively as the group chattered joyfully. Once the doll ran a small battery of tests to make sure Wren and Ginger were healthy and whole, returning Wren's forgotten cape and hat, he explained some of what he had been through to get them freed.

"This whole incident happened because of _Incineration_." Caleb told them, "Because of its power, both Shadow and Celsius made Eru and Kartha promise not to use it around them. Since Eru was Wonder Chef and the Wonder Fork could cast the spell, he had to make that promise and swear that all Wonder Chefs after him would abide by that promise." Wren looked relieved.

"Oh, so that's what he meant by familial." he sighed and grinned back at Shadow, "And here I was panicking that he meant I had to keep the promise because Eru was my ancestor or something!" Caleb blinked and plastered on a smile of agreement.

"Yeah, silly idea, huh?" he agreed and laughed almost nervously, "Anyway, Shadow said he'd let you two go free if I learned a spell that would keep _Incineration_ under control. Now that I have that new spell, I can cast it to nullify the power of _Incineration_ if you let it loose in a place where it could do more harm than good."

"What kind of spell can stop _Incineration_?" Ginger exclaimed in surprise. Caleb waved a small tablet at the chefs.

"This one; _Forsaken_ is a spell made of opposing mana to Wren's _Incineration_ and drains the energy from it when the two make contact." he went on and pulled his hands together, then drew them apart, "Polar opposites, _Incineration_ is a spell that unleashes vast amounts of fire and light mana to create a dome of energy that destroys everything around it while _Forsaken_ creates a sort of hole in space that sucks energy into it and disperses it back into the environment. Like a void... I call it a black hole since light vanishes into it and there's nothing to mark it there unless it's draining mana."

"I don't like the idea of something being able to stop _Incineration_ like that." Wren muttered with a frown, looking up at Caleb, "That spell is the only real defense I have when I'm wandering the world. If anyone finds out about _Forsaken_, I'm an easy target again. Disguises and teleportation can only do so much to keep a Wonder Chef safe." The doll shrugged helplessly as Ginger stroked Pepper's snout and fed her a candy treat.

"There's nothing that can be done about it, Wren. I had to agree or Shadow would keep you and Ginger trapped until you made a binding promise not to use the spell." he explained and looked sheepish, "And by binding promise, I mean he wanted you to make the promise and prove you had a wife to carry your bloodline and the vow together." Wren looked startled as Ginger lifted her head up in shock, both chefs blushing furiously.

"A wife? I don't even have a girlfriend! I...!" the Wonder Chef exclaimed and shook his head, wide-eyed, "Mithos hadn't given the Family permission to allow me to find a bride, so I never got around to looking for someone! You know that Mithos controlled the Chosens' marriages, and in that same way he was controlling the marriages of the Wonder Chef Family. Because Colette was to be taken as a vessel and Zelos never had a wife chosen for him, Mithos ordered that I couldn't have a wife either." He stopped then and looked downcast, the blush fading. "Especially after I started helping out the Heroes of Union." Caleb gave him a strange look, then shook his head.

"Okaaay. Well, you don't have to worry about it now. I basically paid for your freedom, and Mithos is good and dead." he told him and smiled, "Plus, I finished investigating all the seals in Symphonia! We can go to Derris-Kharlan now!"

"Really? We get to go to the Holy Ground of Kharlan?" Ginger exclaimed in surprise and brightened, "Wow! What a trip!"

"NO!" Wren yelled, leaping back from them with a furious look, "I'm not going!" The doll, confectioner and mana beast all looked at him in shock and confusion. "You promised I would stay on Symphonia when the time came to go to that comet! And that's exactly what I'm gonna do!" Caleb threw up his hands in frustration.

"Yeah, I know! But that was _before_ we found out the Council and two hundred Wonder Cooks want your head on a platter! I can't leave you here on Symphonia by yourself! Your father will chop me up into pieces!" he yelled back, "You have to go with me so I can keep you safe!"

"I am NOT going to Derris-Kharlan!" the chef hissed, holding the fork threateningly at the doll, "I'd rather die first!"

"Yummy being stupid-head again." Pepper growled and mentally yanked the Wonder Fork from his hands, holding it suspended in the air high above him. "Caleb try to help Yummy be safe. Yummy be stupid, not want help."

"What do you mean, the Wonder Cooks want Adam dead?" Ginger asked in shock, staring at Caleb, "He's the Wonder Chef! He's their leader!" The doll shook his head.

"It's complicated. The Council of Gourmet Chefs appear to be the advisors of the Wonder Chef Family, but lately they seem to be trying to usurp their power." he explained as Wren fumed and jumped, trying to get the fork back as Pepper dangled it over his head, snickering under her breath. "Since Wren violated the truce between Mithos and the Organization by helping Lloyd and his friends, they deemed him a threat to their existence. Using that as the foundation of their case, the Council and their supporters are gathering evidence that Wren is unfit to be Wonder Chef. Under the laws governing the Organization, if they find sufficient cause to denounce him and force him to surrender the title, Wren would have to be sentenced to either life-long exile in a remote location or execution in order to prevent the spread of the knowledge of the Ultimate Recipe."

"That's insane!" Ginger cried in horror, "_Why?_ After everything the Wonder Chef does to help the world and the people, why would his only rewards be exile and death?"

"I told you we didn't matter!" Wren snapped at her, "No one cares about us! The Chosens of Mana are born to die; the Wonder Chefs are born to serve, _then_ die!" The doll walked up and calmly slapped him over the head.

"Idiot. Stop comparing yourself to the Chosen. They were born into their position; Wonder Chefs are elected through competitions. There is no comparison." Caleb told him sternly, "You are not going to die, and you're going to stop wishing for it! I have to return the blue candle, so let's get going and find Raine. Once all affairs are settled, we are ALL going to Derris-Kharlan!"

**"No!**" Wren shrieked and sat down abruptly, folding his arms over his chest and scowling, "I'm not budging from this spot!"

"Yummy being baby now." Pepper snickered and lifted her head to take the captured Wonder Fork in her mouth. "We go see Martel, yes?" she asked around the utensil. Caleb shook his head, glaring down at Wren. The Summon Spirit of Darkness seemed irritated and the redhead knew that tempers were going to escalate far out of control if they stayed longer than necessary. Ginger was still trying to come to terms with what the Wonder Organization did with retired Wonder Chefs, Shadow looked like he wanted to hurl everyone over the edge of his chamber, Pepper was trying not to gnaw on the Wonder Fork and Wren was daring him to move him from where he sat.

Caleb wanted to go to Derris-Kharlan and finish archiving its information before he could continue collecting the knowledge of Symphonia. There were so many cultures and histories, and with the Eternal Sword Pin on his jacket the doll could easily put off the trip to the comet until after he had the data from Symphonia. But something in him wanted to go to Derris-Kharlan urgently; there was a strange desire to reach the comet that he was finding difficult to stave off and Wren's insistence on remaining grounded was more than just annoying him. It was flat out infuriating.

The comet was perfectly safe, right? Lloyd and his family went up recently and, though they returned in bad condition, they made no mentions of anything worrying up there. There weren't any crazy angels up there in search of new bodies to inhabit or opportunities to turn Symphonia into so much space dust. Why would Wren try to move heaven and earth to stay away from a perfectly safe comet? The only threat he had to worry about was Cruxis, and without Mithos and his Desian Cardinals Cruxis no longer existed.

"You're coming with us to Derris-Kharlan." Caleb growled through his teeth, "And that is **not** negotiable!" Wren scowled even more at him.

"Make me." he challenged and screamed in fury as the doll reached down and grabbed him, slinging him over his shoulder like dead weight. "No! I'm not going! Caleb, put me down! Let me go!" Caleb ignored the thrashing and kicking chef as he turned to Ginger. She stared wide-eyed at him, stunned by the scene.

"Since our little Wonder Chef is throwing a hissy-fit about this, I'm afraid we'll have to travel by foot to where Raine is. Can you tell me where you found her?" he asked politely. Ginger nodded.

"She was in New Palmacosta, reading a bunch of books. Sheena told us about her and said that the village of Mizuho wants you to come and archive their knowledge." she stammered out. Caleb gave her a polite nod of thanks, told Shadow that his patience was greatly appreciated and calmly made his way to the stairs.

"Pepper, let's go. Come on, Ginger, gotta get moving. For the time being, I'd like for you to hold the Wonder Fork on hand. There's a strap for it in Pepper's pack that you can use to carry it on your back." the doll remarked, blocking out the sound of Wren's continued screaming and unaffected by the vicious struggling. Ginger hurriedly pulled the leather strap from Pepper's harness, then quietly accepted the utensil, slinging it behind her as she followed the doll up. "Since Raine is that far off, I'll have to contact my sister and ask for help reaching New Palmacosta." Ginger didn't bother asking about how an automated doll could have a sister, just kept her eyes on the stairs as she tried to tune out Wren's shrieks.


	9. Chapter 9

Epilogue

DuGorge smiled as reports came in of successful attacks on shipments of ingredients passing across Tethe'alla. Eve disabled the system that allowed the Wonder Organization to keep track of food, preventing them from even realizing what was happening, then gave him access to the same communication network. Able to keep contact with his own agents over vast distances now, the strategies and tactics he developed to spread Dark Chef candy to all parts of the world worked that much more smoothly. Once the hundreds of candy shops around the world had spread a majority of their candies to the proper victims, the Dark Chef Alliance would move against the Wonder Organization headquarters in Hima. Assuming all went well, and he was sure it would, the Organization would collapse from lack of leadership and loss of forces, the Heroes of Union would be gone, the systems of government around the world would be destroyed and the agents planted to take control would have the surrounding nobles under their command.

Eve had reported to DuGorge that no sign of the Wonder Chef was found despite her father's frantic search for his communicator signal when it was discovered to be lost, and that the Council was pushing for the chef to be pulled from his position. Elated by how well things were going, DuGorge went back to working on the modified Wonder Recipes to use in the final battle. A majority of his lieutenants and agents were equipped with Exspheres, thanks to the Desians that escaped the Moria Dragon disaster. Ginger's attempt to thwart his plans had been foiled, but her location was of little consequence. Eve assured him that Ginger would be wherever her brother was traveling. The Wonder Chef's sister had been under the assumption that Ginger had interests in him and sought to encourage it.

Nothing mattered to DuGorge at the moment except his preparation for the day when he would finally defeat his long-time rival and take the Wonder Fork in hand, stepping up to become Wonder Chef himself and avenge his family tree. His obsession with the goal had led him to transforming his appearance into a mirror image of the blonde chef long ago, even though the age difference between Adam Voraci and Gluttonious DuGorge was a good eight years. Living in Tethe'alla all his life with full access to his family's fortune enabled him to maintain a youthful appearance with various lotions and potions bought from witches and mages. This same fortune was what funded the Dark Chef Alliance, the organization his ancestors founded to wreak vengeance against the Wonder Chef Family for sentencing them to exile.

There was also that personal matter he had against the Voraci Family itself, but that could be dealt with once he had the Wonder Fork back in his hands. He sighed briefly, shaking his head. If the little blonde punk had just stayed dead when he fell from the cliffs near the Ozette Ruins so long ago, all of this would have been over already. DuGorge smiled wider as he watched the cauldron bubble.

But then what fun would taking over be if he couldn't face Adam in a final, decisive battle to the death?

* * *

Edela Voraci breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the screen in the information center finally emit a single yellow blip, marking the return of her beloved son. She traced her fingertip over the light and smiled gently, then turned and left the room to tell her husband.

No matter what happened in the coming days, the Voracis could not afford to lose their son. DuGorge was up to something, and the power of the Wonder Chef was all that stood between them and destruction of the world's food supply. She clutched the pendant around her neck tightly and closed her eyes. The family she came from had kept her hidden and safe until the day news of the Wonder Chef passing through their village came. She was sent to meet with Estéfan, with all the knowledge she possessed on her destiny. The two met, fell in love, and were wed within the year. Edela knew the day she learned she was to be a mother that her role was fulfilled. Her child, her children, would carry the blood that was deemed lost, and all its strength, all its power, would be restored.

Edela would give birth to the new Family. The culmination of generations of folding bloodlines. The Voracis existed for that purpose, the same purpose the other Families existed to fulfill. Somewhere out there was a child of the Family, same as hers, a child with the uncanny ability to cook healthy food, a child with magical blood to protect the Ultimate Recipe that was ingrained in their minds; maybe more children. They may not be Wonder Chefs themselves, but then the boy that became First Wonder Chef had the power before the title. The title was meaningless, it was the Recipe and the blood that protected it that was important.

"He's returned to the screen, his signal was picked up just a bit ago." Edela whispered to Estéfan as she passed by him to the family's living quarters. "Have your parents and brother left for Alvanista?"

"Yes. You should make haste and join them. Eve and I shall stay behind to ensure your escape goes unnoticed. If the Council learns of your identity..." the elderly chef murmured back. Edela smiled and shook her head.

"No. I'll stay with you, dear husband. The Council can't harm me, even if they were to know me." she answered and smiled wider, "In fact, the knowledge may scare them; proof that Adam is far more powerful than they originally thought."

"I would feel most comfortable knowing you were safely away from here, but I trust your strength. If you feel you can withstand the events, you may remain." Estéfan relented and looked momentarily concerned, "There is the matter of Eve's strange behavior as of late, but it may just be the stress of all that is happening to us. If the situation here further deteriorates, I may have to send her to Alvanista as well. Adam is risking his life more and more the longer he remains connected to this place; I cannot allow my daughter to share his fate should things go wrong." Edela nodded and continued on, praying silently as she let her hand fall from her pendant.

No matter what happened to her now, Edela had already done her part in the great plan set forth by the First Wonder Chef. She gave birth to Adam, and Adam will save the world. Eru, and Kartha, would be proud of them all.

* * *

"Such a baby." Caleb muttered under his breath as he, Ginger and Pepper walked to the New Palmacosta Academy. After a brief talk with Martel over what had taken place in the Temple of Darkness, the group was transported by the power of the Goddess of Mana to the rebuilt city. Martel had made a request that they come to her meadow once the candle was delivered and Caleb agreed, rolling his eyes at the stunned look on Ginger's face.

"Your sister is the_ Goddess Martel_?" she had shrieked,_ "How?"_

"It's a long story." Caleb returned and then muttered the 'baby' remark as Wren finished resting himself and resumed his screams of defiance. Raine looked up in irritation from her books as they entered her room, then took on a startled expression at the scene before her.

"What is that creature? It's _marvelous_!" she cried, leaping up from her chair.

"I've come to return the blue candle, Ms. Sage. And that would be Peppermint FireBlossom, my mana beast companion. I raised her from an egg I found." Caleb sighed and set the candlestick down on the table, "Please try not to..."

"I must dissect it at once and investigate this wondrous new species!" Raine exclaimed happily, bouncing up and down on her feet as she stared up at Pepper's face. The mana beast blinked and shook her head.

"Nooo! I stay in one piece! You crazy lady!" she told the half-elf.

"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't, Raine." Caleb sighed again, "And besides, Genis is conducting a study of mana beasts at the Yggdrasill Tree. Talk to him if you want information." Raine straightened and looked towards him.

"Ah, yes, speaking of which, I've heard from the young man on your shoulder that you've been archiving data from around the world. How goes it?" she asked. Caleb brightened. Ignoring the thrashing chef, he went into a conversation with the half-elf about his discoveries in the Summon Spirit Seals and gave her Salmendra's Proof as a gift. "Marvelous! An artifact of the ancient world! Thank you so much, Caleb!" Raine purred, eyes shining with curiosity.

"It's called Salmendra's Proof, or the Salamander Ring, whichever seems more appropriate. Wren translated the words for me. They're written in elven language and something called Old Runic." the doll pointed out. Raine frowned and looked up at him.

"Wren?" she echoed. Caleb pointed at the chef. "The Wonder Chef translated elven letters? That's not possible." she told him with a concerned look, "Only elves and half-elves can understand that language. He's human... isn't he?"

"His mother taught him to read and write elven language." Ginger offered.

"And yes! I'm human! Put me down!" Wren yelled. Raine shook her head.

"That's still strange. If the Wonder Chef is human, his mother cannot be an elf. Therefore, she must be a half-elf." she remarked, "But if that were true, then the Wonder Chef would still have magical blood and thus have the strange mana fusion that we fellow half-elves would be able to sense."

"My mother is **not** a half-elf!" Wren snapped, struggling fiercely. Raine folded her arms over her chest as she studied him carefully.

"Strange. His mana doesn't have the same properties as those of other half-elves, but it's not fully human either. The features of his face... they look almost elven, but not quite." she finally declared. Wren glared at her.

"I am a human. Nothing more, nothing less." he insisted. Caleb looked over his other shoulder in confusion.

"So Wren's not human?" he asked as Ginger leaned around to study Wren's face with the half-elf. Raine shook her head.

"I didn't say that." she corrected and reached out, tracing the blonde's cheek. "Look here. His cheekbones are sculpted like a human's, soft and rounded. But his jaw-line, here, comes to a slight point, like an elf's. It should be the profile of a half-elf, but then there's the shape of the ear." Raine pulled aside the strands of hair to reveal it. "See? Round, like any human's. But this hair, the texture and fineness is something that is inherited from a half-elf, not quite human, not quite elven."

"Will you stop messing with my head?" Wren grumbled, "I'm not something to be examined like your other little relics and bric-a-brac." Ginger nodded slowly, matching Raine's pose.

"For a half-elf, you've got good eyes. I see it now. He does look a little strange." she murmured and smiled, "And kinda cute." Wren shot her a glare and she looked innocent. "What?" Raine nodded.

"Eyes. Yes, I almost forgot. His eyes are human in appearance, but his eye color shifts with his mood and lighting. That's indicative of elven blood." she added. Wren looked worried then, blinking at them.

"You really think so?" he asked and went quiet. Caleb set him down on his feet at last and stood back to study him as well. "Are you suggesting that I'm not human?" the chef finally asked, an expression of fear on his face. Raine blinked and sighed.

"Well, I'm not sure. Not without further research into your history and bloodline. You have many physical features from human blood, elven blood, and even half-elven blood. But then, I could be wrong. I don't have substantial evidence, just an idea based on observations." she remarked and smiled, "But for now, I can safely say that you must be human. And since you don't have an Exsphere or Cruxis Crystal, you are definitely not an angel, which is the only other race that could possibly have the strange mix of bloods you have, if they haven't been eliminated because of the draining of mana."

"So he _is_ human?" Caleb asked, still confused.

"He's an idiot Wonder Boy. That's good enough for me." Ginger added cheerfully.

"Yes, yes. He's human. We'll leave it at that for now." Raine griped irritably.

"Good. I don't want to be anything but human." Wren declared and shot Caleb a look. "And I'm still not going to Derris-Kharlan." Caleb scowled as Raine took on renewed interest.

"Not this again!" the doll growled.

"You plan on going to Derris-Kharlan? Why?" the half-elf asked.

"The libraries in Mithos' castle. I want to archive the data from those libraries and see if I can piece together the history of the world before he destroyed it." Caleb told her and frowned at Wren, "But Wren refuses to go with me and Pepper. I can't leave him here on Symphonia; we have some troubles that concern him and I promised to keep him safe."

"Nothing wrong with going to that comet for the sake of research!" Raine agreed whole-heartedly, "You should be excited about the opportunity to discover lost arts and sciences from the ancient world! In fact, Caleb, would you mind if I joined you?" The doll looked surprised at the request and smiled brightly.

"Professor! I'd be glad to have a fellow scholar join us! I've collected much more information than I was able to tell you, but with all the time we can spend on Derris-Kharlan, I can fill you in." he agreed enthusiastically as Pepper sighed.

"We go to Martel soon?" she interrupted. Caleb frowned at her.

"It's not polite to interrupt, Pepper. Please apologize to Ms. Raine." he scolded.

"Sorry, but we go soon, yes?" the mana beast asked again. The doll nodded with a sigh as Raine collected her belongings. Wren scowled, looking around at the group.

"You're not listening to me! I'm not going!" he demanded, "I will not go anywhere near that comet!" Caleb shot him an angry look.

"I've put up with your screaming and tantrums enough already!" he snapped, "You are coming with us and that is final! I can't allow you to go wandering off and possibly get yourself killed by the You-Know-Who! I care too much about you as a friend to let anything happen to you!" Wren tried to make a run for the door but was grabbed by the arm just as he tensed for the motion. "I saw that. Wren, you are going to Derris-Kharlan with us and that is most definitely an order this time." Caleb growled. Wren struggled to get free, desperate to get away.

"No! No, I don't want to go! Let me go!" he cried, "I'm not going! You can't make me go to Welgaia!" Caleb blinked in confusion as Raine narrowed her gaze at the Wonder Chef.

"No one here mentioned that name." she hissed and the rest of the group looked at her in surprise. Wren paled suddenly, coming still as he stared at the half-elf. "No one mentioned that city to you, and only the Heroes of Union know of that name." Raine went on sharply, "Who told you about that city?"

"I..." Wren whispered, eyes wide with a desperate terror as he slowly shook his head. "No..." Caleb looked between him and Raine in confusion as Ginger grew worried for the chef's state of mind.

"What's Welgaia?" the doll asked. Raine kept her focus on Wren, who gave her a pleading expression.

"Welgaia is the holy city on Derris-Kharlan, built by Mithos to serve as the base of operations for his World Prolongation Plan. We were up there several times during our quest, but we never told anyone the name of that place." she explained in a harsh voice, "It was the city where Mithos tried to substitute Colette's soul for Martel's and resurrect her. Wonder Chef, how did you know of that place?"

"I..." Wren murmured and shut his eyes tightly, shaking as tears streamed down his face, "I can't tell you!"

"Maybe Kratos told him." Caleb suddenly said, coming to his friend's defense. Wren opened his eyes, startled as the doll looked over at the half-elf. "Wren said that Kratos kept contact with him during your journey with Lloyd so he could show up at each major point in the quest and teach you all recipes. So maybe Kratos mentioned Welgaia to Wren?" he suggested. Wren's eyes widened and he nodded quickly. Raine frowned.

"Perhaps. But the last we saw him was in Meltokio while we were making preparations for what we thought was a final assault on Cruxis; he never appeared again after that, except to give us cooking titles in Altamira and that was long after we rescued Zelos from Mithos when the Tower of Salvation on Tethe'alla's side was destroyed. Where was the Wonder Chef during that span of time?" she pointed out.

"He was probably busy with something else. It's not all his fault. There are others who could have needed his help at the time. " Caleb protested and looked at his friend worriedly, "You really don't want to go with us, do you?"

"If I promise to stay with Martel while you're away, will you let me remain on Symphonia?" Wren asked softly. Caleb sighed and reluctantly agreed. "Thank you. You can let me go now. I won't run away. I'll teleport us to the Mana Tree." he added. The doll released him and returned the Wonder Fork. Ginger reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder, startling the blonde. "Ginger?" he murmured questioningly.

"It's okay. I'll stay with you." she told him and looked to the doll, "I promise that I'll take care of him for you. I owe you all that much for taking me in and forgiving me for what I did long ago."

"Then we'll part ways here. Sorry, Pepper, but we have to go to Derris-Kharlan now." Caleb remarked. Pepper whimpered and sighed. "We'll go after we're done up there." he promised and turned back to the two chefs, "Wren, you and Ginger go to Martel and let her know what's up. Stay there for the time I'm away so you can be safe. I'll use the Eternal Sword Pin to take Raine and Pepper with me to Derris-Kharlan." They agreed but Wren was silent, looking oddly pensive. He looked up at Caleb, studied him almost intensely, then looked around himself.

"Wait, I need some paper." he remarked and collected a sheet from the table, hesitating only a moment before hurriedly writing on it with a pencil, "Take this with you, Caleb. If you get in trouble, use it. It might make things easier for you and Raine." He folded the sheet, swallowed hard, then handed the paper to the redhead.

"Thanks, but don't worry about us. We'll be fine; between Pepper's powers, Raine's healing magic and my advantages being a magic-using doll, there's nothing on Derris-Kharlan that could possibly hurt us." Caleb assured him brightly. Wren shrugged slightly, hands tightened into fists out of nervousness.

"I know. But if anything goes wrong... you have a way out with that paper." he murmured, "Because you're my friend, and I don't want to... I don't want to lose any more friends. Not to Cruxis... or what's left of it." He smiled wanly. "Trust me. I just gave you an extra bit of power with that. I'm the Wonder Chef; I can do that." Caleb gave him a strange look, then shrugged it off.

"Okay, we're going now. Be careful, both of you." the doll told him, "We should be back in a week or so, depending on how many libraries are there, exactly." Wren looked slightly relieved and held up the Wonder Fork.

"You too, Caleb! See you soon! _Bon appétit!_" he declared in forced cheerfulness, and both he and Ginger vanished in a burst of smoke. Caleb smiled and placed his hand over the pin.

"Eternal Pin, please take me, Pepper and Raine to Mithos's castle on Derris-Kharlan." he murmured and the three friends shimmered into the air, disappearing and on their way to the giant comet of mana.

The End

* * *

A/N: And with that, this fic is finally done. Had to get all the chapters posted to say so. It gets tricky from here on. Since Caleb and the Wonder Chef have split up for the duration, there are two parallel running stories that describe the events that take place for each of them, both of which were SUPPOSED to lead into the final story, Project: Wonder War. I'm still debating whether or not to pick it back up and complete it, considering so many other irons in the fire I've already got. Hoo boy.


End file.
